The Connector
by lunaryu
Summary: He can see things most people can't see, and they come to him with various purposes: purely torturing his mind, passing messages, or seeking his help for their unfinished business. How can he help them and who will help him ease them?-eventual ZoSan chap8
1. Escaping The Death

**The Connector**

**Fandom: **One Piece

**Rating:** T/15+

**Genre: **Mystery-Horror-Drama

**Pairing/Characters: **eventual ZoSan (but more to a really close friendship rather than romance)/possibly all will come up in later chapters (only Zoro in this chapter-and he's the main character)

**Disclaimer: One Piece is Odachi's**

**Warning: **_AU, major horror-supernatural occurrences, eventual shounen ai, possibly oOC-ness, graphic horrible/sadistic images_

**Summary: **He can see things most people can't see, and they come to him with various purposes: purely torturing his mind, passing messages, or seeking his help for their unfinished business. How can he help them and who will help him ease them?

* * *

**Chapter 1: **_**Escaping the Death**_

It was a stupid serious blunder.

Roronoa Zoro was definitely dead when a gigantic sword of his opponent, Dracule Mihawk, slashed his chest diagonally from his right shoulder blade to his left abdomen, nearing the hip.

Blood, his very own crimson liquid of life, was splashing, running out his veins or arteries or even both, and pooling on the stage of underground fight he was having a match right now...or this entire month. Oh, he was so dead. If Zoro didn't die now, his father would definitely kill him for this stupid macho showdown. Either way, the young 17 year old boy with green hair and tanned skin and a toned oh-so-gorgeous body—if he was not bleeding to death right now—was having a serious big trouble, a near-death situational trouble.

Zoro was still conscious as he was lifted and brought to ER. He didn't know who brought him, couldn't really see because his sight was blurring. He also couldn't hear really well, didn't catch what people around him were saying. Well, they obviously looked panicked. He felt cold and the pain in his chest was killing him or numbing his five senses, Zoro wasn't sure. He couldn't move and he was as sure as hell that he was going to die.

Now he felt delirious. He could feel just now that someone had stuck something on his right hand or was that an injection? An IV maybe? Anesthetic?—Again, the dying young man wasn't sure. Anyway, everything around him began to be very white or bright and he really wanted to close his eyelids; they felt really heavy. He was losing his awareness…or worse, losing his life.

At the verge of losing consciousness, Zoro heard something. A voice; and it was hell familiar to him. He didn't remember when he heard that or who owned the voice, but it was familiar and a moment later, he could only see darkness.

When he opened his eyes, he was in a very dark place.

**ZORO—RORONOA—ZORO**

"I can't believe this! How could you be this stupid, young man?" A green haired man in his forty with strong jaw and masculine line of face, wearing a traditional old green _hakama_ and a white upper kimono, glared deadly at the source of his anger and his frustration before him.

"Dad, it was a small mistake," the younger one with the same hair color and similar piercing eyes, could only make excuse quietly as he stayed still on the bed of hospital, head bent down, staring at the white sheet between his clenched hands, face pale, full of shame and disgrace.

A vein popped up on the older one's forehead. "A small mistake-huh? It was a miracle that you even woke up! You're dead there on the operation table, Roronoa Zoro! Doctor said your heart stopped! And you're waiting for our claim at the cadaver unit for an hour before you suddenly woke up again and walked around, freaking the hell out of the residents and the nurses! And you call it _A SMALL MISTAKE!?_" The older man was enraged at his son's unbelievable moronic answer.

Roronoa Alan was usually a very calm man. Hell he was like…the synonym of tranquilizer. However, this time seriously, he could kill his eldest son right here and now. Oh, if Zoro hadn't just escaped the death, he would have strangled him the moment Alan saw him. He couldn't believe Zoro would make him worried to this extent.

"Underground fight, for god sake! Not only you violated our nation's law, you could get yourself killed for real! Oh no, you _got _killed some hours ago, at least you really stopped breathing and was considered dead! How do you think your mother were feeling when she heard the news!?" Alan continued yelling loudly at his son, and he would be definitely banished from that hospital if he wasn't in a Super VIP Room and the owner of that private health facility.

Zoro flinched at the mention of his mother. Well, he might respect his father so much and felt like crap for disgracing him like this, but his mother was something else. He would die for her gladly if he had to. His father knew this, and mentioning her to make him feel guilty… Zoro was in worse trouble than dying now.

Zoro shut his eyes, hearing his father's yelling until the older was satisfied and exhausted. Alan sat on the chair beside the bed, covering his pale face, panting.

"I am sorry… Please forgive me, father," Zoro said slowly, sincerely, trying to act tough even though he was feeling like running away or burying himself alive if there were holes anywhere near him right now.

Zoro still closed his eyes. He knew how bad this situation was. His father would disown him and he couldn't even blame him for that. Zoro was in fault after all. He indeed had betrayed his expectations and hopes the moment Alan knew what he had been doing outside his house all these times. He lied about group-studying outside at night. He lied about cram-school. He even lied about his part time job. Those all were excuses Zoro made whenever he had those matches. Of course his father would be furious that his son. His eldest son, who would succeed him someday, did something illegal and lied to him about it, and worse, almost got himself killed there.

Zoro realized how idiot he was. He had just wanted to seek fun in fighting. He was a kendo athlete and he wasn't satisfied with the official matches. He couldn't pull out his full power to fight those amateur-like opponents there after all, and underground match, _he thought,_ was a right place to satisfy his lust to test out his true ability and power by using _real swords_.

And his opponent last night…'The Hawk Eye' Dracule Mihawk, had been the sole champion of Japanese underground fight for ten years in row. He was unbeatable and Zoro was sure he could defeat him. In fact, he just overestimated his own power and worse, he was so arrogant of that. Even his father had taught him that arrogance could blind their eyes and heart that they would not be able to see their own flaws. Zoro was so shameful now not only because he had forgotten about his father's teaching but also because of what happened the night before. He was like an ant fighting an elephant. He was still so far away from Mihawk. He couldn't even land a single hit.

It was definitely a disgraceful sight. It was so ugly that Zoro thought it might have been better if he stayed dead rather than having to face the reality.

Alan uncovered his face again. He felt really tired and old suddenly. He set his gaze at his son again. Zoro was regretting his every action right now. Alan could see that. He looked so small and so…depressed. Alan might have been overreacting for mentioning his wife while knowing it was Zoro's weakness. He had never done that before, but this time was a one-life-time experience for him too. He was so shocked when the hospital called him that his son died because of an illegal activity.

His beloved son died…for a moment Alan wanted to die himself at the thought. When he told his wife, she cried hysterically before she collapsed and lost consciousness. He almost had an accident himself because of an emotional crisis as he drove like a mad man to the hospital. He had not lost control in a long time and that night was like an apocalypse in his almost 45 years of life.

Alan sighed in a defeated look as he looked at the ceiling, leaning his back on the chair back. Where had he been wrong in raising his eldest son? Did he have too much faith and expectation for him that stressed him? Or was it just because he was too easy-going or even too strict? Alan didn't understand and had no idea.

The older man once again looked at Zoro. The young swordsman still closed his eyes and stayed still even with that deadly wound on his chest. Zoro's physical power was indeed miraculously scary. Or he just pushed himself to look like that. Either way, he was recovering and Alan didn't help him by shouting, yelling or making the boy feel guilty. He was still seventeen and Alan had ever been young before. He knew that Zoro's thinking pattern still had no boundary. He was strong, fearless, full of dreams, and he could still even become better and better.

Like Zoro said, it was one of the mistakes that could happen in his journey to reach adulthood, a seriously dumb deadly mistake, not a _small one_ though.

Alan sighed again and reached his hand at his son's head. "It's okay, Zoro," he said slowly, now having been calm enough to think and not to lash out like before. He stroked Zoro's short hair gently. "I was wrong too for yelling like that. I am sorry." He even apologized after he realized what kind of horrible words he had thrown at his sons previously.

"No, father, you've done nothing wrong. I deserve a serious punishment for this mistake," Zoro shook his head at that; really surprised that his father had reverted to his usual self in a short time. His old man's control was a serious wonder to Zoro. If Zoro were in his shoes, he would definitely disown his son.

"Okay, a punishment, indeed; I have to think one later. Now I am just glad that you're alive, son. I thought my heart stopped as well when I heard you died," Alan said while massaging his temple now. He was really giddy and tired from the emotional crisis and the rage. Now he just wanted to sleep.

Zoro felt really guilty when he heard that. His father was really freaked out and worried apparently. Well, he should have known, he was Alan's son after all. "I am sorry for worrying you as well," Zoro whispered lowly while peering at his father's worn-out figure.

Alan smiled at his son and once again ruffled his hair. "You should lay down, Zoro. Your wound is no kidding. How could you stay alive with that? Well, when I saw you walk around after I identified your corpse, I was freaked out myself," he said jokingly. "Miracle does happen sometimes, huh?"

Zoro was silent for a moment. Miracle… Well, it might be a miracle, but if Kuina wasn't there, it wouldn't happen.

Zoro still remembered what he experienced when he…died? Or let say…when he was in the border of life and death. He was in a dark tunnel. A long dark tunnel without light and voice. How could he knew it was a tunnel, he had no idea. He just knew. And there…far in front of him was a white light. It was so small he could only see it as a tiny little dot.

Following his instinct, Zoro tried to go there. He was in a panicked situation because when he realized, he couldn't even feel anything in that tunnel. He couldn't even distinct if he was talking or thinking. He was almost engulfed by nothingness and it scared the hell out of him. That dot of light became the only hope he had.

However, after forever running to the light, at the end of the tunnel he saw his best friend. Kuina…the girl that died nine years ago because of a sickness, she was there and shouted at him to go back. She said something like it hadn't been his time and he should go back. Actually, Zoro didn't want to go back, but then…the promise…. He remembered about that promise he made with her before she died.

_To become the best swordsman in the world…_

Respecting her wish, in the end Zoro ran back to the darkness, fighting his fear of became nothing inside that dark tunnel. He remembered running and running until he saw the same dot light at the other end and when he opened his eyes again, he had been in a cadaver box in cadaver unit room.

Zoro was seriously freaked out as he opened the container. Then, when he walked out the room, a resident and some nurses saw him and it was uproar after that.

Well, anyway, Zoro was still alive and was thankful to his dumb luck and Kuina. She had saved him from dying after all, even thought it was just her spirit…or anything like that. Zoro actually didn't believe of something unrealistic or supernatural, but he couldn't deny what he could see, could he?

"Zoro?" Alan called the teen back from his train of thought.

"Oh, yeah," Zoro responded in a surprise. "Father, you should sleep too. You look really tired," Zoro said.

"I will. You rest well, son and recover soon," Alan stood, once again ruffling his son's hair gently with a reassuring smile as Zoro laid himself down on his bed.

"Okay…," Zoro smiled back and was ready to sleep when suddenly he caught a glimpse of someone else in the corner of the room.

_Long…dark hair… A woman?_—Zoro stared at the strange figure for a moment.

A pale woman, probably in her thirty judging from her face, she wore a worn-out long sleeved white-brown garment with a long dark skirt. There were black ring circling her eyes and she looked untidy and very sick. And her skin…it looked…very weird. There was a tint of blue in her pale color. And she also stared at him with those hollowed black eyes too. It was extremely creepy.

"Father," Zoro called his father as Alan was about to turn his back and leave. He set his eyes on his son again, raising one of his eyebrows. "Who's there at the corner of the room? A new maid?" he asked out of curiosity and for confirmation. She might be a lost patient or something.

Now Alan raised both his eyebrows at his son in a strange look. He then put his hand on Zoro's forehead and put the other one on his own.

"Father, what are you doing?" Zoro asked, sweat dropping.

"Odd, you don't have a fever," Alan said wonderingly.

"You're being weird, father. I asked about a woman standing at the corner of the room. How come it became I had a fever?" the green haired teen asked ridiculously. His father might have been too tired.

"What are you saying, son? There's no one in this room except us," Alan said, looking at his boy oddly as well.

"Eh…?" Zoro was surprised at that. "But—!" He glanced back at the corner of the room, at his left side. She was still standing there, not doing anything, just staying still and staring at him creepily. "But she's there, father," Zoro protested a bit while pointing at the woman.

"Son…it might be because of the drugs. You're seeing things," Alan smiled again in understanding.

"But—!"

Zoro was about to protest hard now when his father put his hand on his hair again to silence him. "I'll be with you, so just sleep for now."

There was a hint of order in Zoro's father's caring voice. His father was tired, _he_ was tired, and Zoro didn't want to inconvenience him more than this, so Zoro nodded slowly, obliging him. He glanced again at the woman though. He was sure she was there. He wasn't seeing things.

_Still, what is she doing there? Why is she staring at me like that?_—Zoro wondered uneasily, but the biggest question he had right now was… _Why can't father see her?_

Zoro didn't get the answer because suddenly he felt really sleepy. Now it was the drug taking effect on his system. In his delirious state, he still could see the strange figure, but now she wasn't at the corner of the room, but right beside his bed, bending her head, showing him her sickly sad face.

_What…?_

Zoro could see her opening her mouth, seeming saying something, but he couldn't hear her. Slowly but steadily he closed his eyes and went to the darkness of slumber.

**ZORO—RORONOA—ZORO**

It was hot.

His body was burning. He couldn't breathe.

Zoro opened his eyes slightly. He could see the red engulfing flame burning everywhere. He wanted to yell and asked for help. He was panicked, desperately gasping and panting for air, but what came inside his lungs were smokes and dirt.

_No…it's hot…! I am burning…! I am burning alive—! Help…somebody…anybody…!_—Zoro looked at his melting burning flesh. He could smell the sickening feeling and he was in pain. He was really scared. _Help…help…HELP ME!_

Zoro opened his eyes only to be faced by a face of a burnt woman with dark hair, with blowing and melting eyeballs, scrapped skull and facial's skin and rotten flesh. Zoro widened his eyes and, "AAAAARGH!" he screamed bloody murder.

"Zoro!"

Zoro was brought back to reality with a gasp as he woke up from his nightmare. He was panting like crazy, eyes widening and pupil dilating at the memory of horrible images. His face was really pale and sweats broke out his entire skin.

Zoro couldn't breathe properly. The scent of burnt melting flesh and the smokes were still so clear in his senses. He had difficulty in distinguishing dream and reality. He could still see part of the nightmare and vaguely he also heard someone call his name.

"Zoro, calm down! Breathe, son! Take a deep breath!" Alan tried to calm Zoro down by stroking and soothing his chest, carefully not to touch the wound while he was also panicked himself at Zoro's state.

The young man had been restless in his sleep and Alan was about to wake him up when suddenly Zoro opened his eyes widely and began to scream in horror. He didn't know what kind of nightmare his son had, but his voice was so loud and bloodcurdling that Alan became panicked as well.

"Zoro, please calm down! Calm down!" Alan shouted, trying to catch Zoro's attention by winning out his scream.

Zoro was still panting and gasping for air for moments before tears started pooling on his widened eyes. Sometimes later then, his sense of reality began to wake up and he could see no longer the trace of his nightmare. He could hear his father's voice and began to be able to breathe properly as well. His eyes then softened as he took a deep breath and released it slowly three times while closing his eyes to calm himself down.

"Son…," Alan looked at Zoro's finally calm state with a concern mixed with a relief in his expression. "Zoro, are you okay?" Alan asked again to make sure Zoro was alright.

Zoro opened his eyes slowly and looked at his father. There were still the traces of tears on his cheeks, but he was breathing steadily now, not gasping and panting like before. "Father…," Zoro's voice was hoarse and heavy. He looked sick and his hospital garments were wet because of the cold sweats.

"Zoro, what happened?" Alan stroked his son's damp hair. His forehead skin was as cold as ice. He should call the doctor to check on him.

"Nightmare…," Zoro whispered weakly. He was more worn-out than before he was asleep. The images were so vivid it was sickening. He was nauseous so much that he wanted to vomit. He began to have a headache as well, and it was pounding his head like a ton hammer.

Zoro groaned painfully as he crouched further on his damp cold blanket. He was shivering now. Then he opened his eyes and was met with a view of that strange woman at the corner of the room.

_She again…why is she still there?_—Zoro thought really uneasy now. She still stared at him with those hollow creepy black eyes.

"Father…, please make her go away," Zoro said suddenly. He really didn't want to see her in this state. It was beginning to scare him.

"Son…," Alan began to get worried even more. His son was saying something strange again. There was no one except them in the room. Who was this woman he was talking about since before he slept?

"Please, father, remove her from this room. She is staring at me like…like…!" Zoro couldn't finish his words. He widened his eyes and froze as suddenly the woman was beside his bed. She bent down and lowered her face at his. Her long hair…was touching his cold face.

Zoro couldn't speak. Once again he couldn't breathe. The chill ran down on his spine as he could only stare at her sickening solemn look.

_Stop—! Stop! What are you doing!? Stay away! Stay away from me!_—Zoro's mind screamed in panicked state even though outside he was freezing and couldn't move.

However then, as Zoro was about to shut his eyes, he caught a glimpse of the woman opening her mouth as if she wanted to say something. She looked so sickeningly desperate as well that Zoro began to feel pity even though it was really terrifying.

_What…again…? Does she want to say something?_—Zoro's panicky began to subdue a bit. Although he was still nauseous and the headache was still pounding, he paid much closer attention to the woman's mouth, trying to make out her silent words.

Zoro groaned again fighting the pain more to the one in his head rather than the one on his chest. The painkiller seemed still numbing him, but the headache was killing him. He tried to concentrate more, ignoring his father's concerned words.

"Damn it, what the hell are they doing, those nurses!? I'll go get the doctor myself! Wait here, son!"

Zoro could hear his father yell something, and the older man then left the room while running in a panicked look.

Now the room was quiet, and even though Zoro was fighting the nausea and the headache, he could concentrate more to the woman in front of him.

_What are you trying to say? What do you want from me?_—Zoro was still not able to talk, so he spoke with his mind. He knew it was ridiculous, but he couldn't think properly now with that headache. And this situation was indeed bizarre for him.

Zoro was talking to a woman through his mind, damn it. What was it if it was not an outrageous bizarre idea?

Anyway, as he was concentrating more, _finally_ he could hear the voice. It was really low, really dry like the rustles of dry leaves and almost inaudible, but he somehow managed to transcript the voice.

"_H-help… son… can't…athe…"_

_Wha-what? What's son? Whose son? Can't what?_—Zoro groaned more as the pounding in his head increased tenfold. He felt like passing out now.

"_My son… dying… can't… breathe…"_

_Your son? Your son is it? Can't breathe and dying? Where is he?_—Zoro crouched more and now covered his forehead with two hands while moaning painfully. The world around him seemed spinning and he could see white stars here and there.

"_3…0…1…"_

"Ugh…301, huh?" Zoro then slammed his forehead to the iron part of the bed to calm his aching and pounding head. It bled of course, but he didn't care. Now he could speak and move and he would do anything to stop this painful experience.

Zoro then tried to sit. A wave of nausea washed over him. He hurriedly covered his mouth before he could vomit. He pushed himself to stand, out of the bed. His feet could feel the coldness of the floor, but the numbing sense made him unaffected. Zoro tried to walk even though he was wobbly. Then he was stopped because of the IV tube hanging beside his bed that restrained his arm. He took out the IV tube and brought it with him as he walked out the room shakily.

When he was out of the room, Zoro had no idea where the room 301 was. "Lead…the way…," he asked no one in particular, but then the woman from before appeared out of nowhere in front of him.

_Quickly… please quick…_

Zoro could feel that he had to hurry. Whatever was in front of him right now, even though it seemed unreal and ridiculous, Zoro's mind and every instinct told him to do it. _Just do it_; and he would free form this pain.

Zoro gasped and panted heavily as he walked. He had almost tripped his own feet a couple of times, but he could manage to walk while leaning on the wall. He followed the woman. The sight was very strange. He swore the woman didn't move her feet, but she could walk really fast, almost flowing if he could see better.

Down stairs, to the right, turn left twice and there was the room 301. With his will power Zoro tried not to pass out, he used his strength left in his body and opened the room. It was a rather spacious room with four occupants and beds. As he came inside, the woman was in the corner of the room at his left side. There was a patient there on the bed beside the woman, a boy, and he was convulsing, really badly.

_Shit—!_ Zoro tried to walk faster to the bed. He saw the other patients just stared at the convulsing boy and did nothing about it.

"God damn it! Why didn't all of you do something!? The kid's dying!" Zoro shouted angrily because the pain in his head was unbearable as well. It was buzzing and with his last power, he pounded the calling bell repeatedly to call the nurses and the doctors until he passed out, now on the floor.

When Zoro woke up the second time, he had been back to his own room. Zoro groaned out loud the moment he woke up.

"Son!" Alan reached Zoro's hand and held it strongly.

"Fa…ther…," Zoro blinked several times as he recognized his father's feature. The headache was still there, but it was not as bad as the previous one and the nauseating feeling was gone.

"Thank god!" Alan shouted in relief. "Oh, Zoro, what are you doing, walking around in that state?" his father continued, not understanding his son's action.

"Oh yeah, the boy! How is he?" Zoro then remembered about the convulsing boy he approached before, and woke to sit up; and of course immediately regretted his action as pain shot him on his chest and head. He cursed lightly at that, about crying if he could.

"He's okay, Mr. Roronoa," suddenly a light shooting voice came out behind Alan.

"Dr. Rein," Alan turned his back at the owner of the voice, greeted and shook his hand.

"Who?" Zoro had to narrow his eyes to look at the young doctor properly. Well, judging from his light high tenor voice, Zoro thought he was probably still young.

"How are you Mr. Roronoa Junior?" the doctor with white long sleeved coat came closer to the sick boy so he could greet Zoro as well. A name tag stuck on the coat front pocket saying the name: Dr. Rein Heart.

Zoro then could see the doctor's feature properly now. Like he thought, the doctor was young, a man with long wavy brown almost blond hair. He had amber colored eyes and wore round small glasses, sticking lowly on his nose, like a scientist. He looked really friendly and his voice was cooling and shooting. In an instant Zoro thought the doctor's job suited him so well.

"I'm feeling like crap," Zoro said while groaning.

"Mind your language, young man!" Alan scolded Zoro instantly.

Zoro groaned more. He forgot that his father was a bit strict about manner. Zoro muttered a plain apology and Dr. Rein chuckled at that. "I don't mind. It means that he is fine now if he can say something like that," the young doctor said with a smile.

"It thanks to your immediate and precise treatment, Dr. Rein. I don't know what would happen to Zoro if you didn't move faster than anyone else as he woke up from his dead state," Alan said, really grateful at the doctor's service.

"That's a doctor's job. More importantly, Mr. Roronoa, you hadn't slept since Roronoa Junior passed out last night. You should take a rest or you will double my job if after this it's your turn to pass out and is bedridden for pushing yourself too much," Rein said all of the words in a breath.

Alan and Zoro were stunned at that, surprised. However then, Alan chuckled. "Okay, I'll follow the doctor's instruction so as not to inconvenience him further." He laughed and shook his head at the humor.

"Oh, and you can choose whichever room you want. It's your hospital after all," Rein grinned good-naturedly at Alan and the older man laughed harder.

"Alright, I'll be in the room next door then," Alan said as he exited the room and then closed the door. Now Zoro was alone with Dr. Rein in the room.

"How are you feeling now, Mr. Roronoa Junior?" Rein started the conversation again.

Zoro felt a bit off with the name. "Just call me Zoro, please," he said while sighing and closing his eyes.

"Alright, Zoro, how are you feeling again?" Rein repeated his question now addressing Zoro's name properly with an amused look.

"Like I said, feeling like crap," Zoro also repeated his answer several minutes ago, now opening his eyes again and looking at the doctor in his eyes.

"Oh, I see. Still feeling dizzy? Like headache maybe or nausea?" Rein furthered his anamnesis.

"The headache; the nausea is not anymore…well, feels better than before though. Before, the headache was killing me. I thought my brain had melted," Zoro complained.

"Okay, any pain in other areas?" Rein asked again.

"Uh…the chest still hurts, but not as much. You stitched that wound too?" Zoro asked.

"Yes. Hope it will come out fine, huh?" Rein said while smiling again. Zoro smiled back at him and nodded.

"Oh yeah, Doc," suddenly Zoro remembered something, "You said before that the boy was okay?" he asked further.

"Ah, that boy, Kei…. Yep, his life is no longer in danger," Rein said. "Still, it was so close. If you hadn't found him and called us with the bell immediately Zoro, he would have been dead for sure. Your night-walking was a dumb luck, huh?" Rein continued while joking slightly.

"What happened to him?" Zoro asked then. Curiosity won him over the urge to mutter that he was not taking that walk because he wanted to, but he had to.

"It's an allergic attack. The edemas and swellings came out as a result of specific chemical objects effect, constricting his respiratory tract so the air could not pass. As a result of the dropping oxygen supply, the shock occurred and convulsing happened; and if we didn't inject him with anti-histamine and adrenalin fast enough…poof, gone was his life," Rein explained.

"Ugh…sounds really bad…," Zoro paled slightly at that. "Well, at least he made it." He shrugged then. "What about his mother? She should just call you herself if she was there, but she had to come here and got me to do it for her. Is she a mammoth of technology or what?" He couldn't help feeling a bit annoyed at that.

Rein didn't say anything and he just stared at him oddly, as if he was an alien dancing pineapple samba or something. "What?" Zoro asked, feeling uncomfortable with the weird stare.

"You said something strange, Zoro. He had no mother, you know; at least not anymore," Rein said.

"Huh?" Zoro frowned at that, confused. "But she was here last night. She came to me and asked for my help. That's why I was able to come to him in time," Zoro reasoned.

"That's impossible. His mother died in a fire a year ago. She died here and I was the one who treated her wounds before her life slipped away," Rein said with a puzzled look.

_Eh?—_Zoro was extremely surprised at that. He then remembered about the dream of him burning alive and the horrible face he saw after that. Was that a coincidence?

Zoro then widened his eyes when he glanced at the corner of the room and saw the woman again, but now she was more…in color? There were no black rings surrounding her eyes and her sight was more…alive. Her skin was still pale, but it didn't look sick anymore and she was smiling at him.

She opened her mouth and said _"Thank you…"_ before her figure disappeared in the glimmering light.

_Eh…!?_—Now Zoro was seriously freaked out at that. _It can't be…! That woman was a spirit!?_

"What's wrong, Zoro? Your face is pale. Are you feeling sick?" Rein asked in concern as Zoro's face began to turn white, and the sweats prickled out his face.

"Eh!? Uh…no, it's nothing! Nothing!" Zoro panicked a bit as he answered. He didn't know how to cope up with this. He had just seen a ghost tanking him and last night he talked to it.

_What the hell—!?_

"But surely, miracles do happen around you, huh? First, you came back alive after you're officially considered dead and then you saved a kid's life just because you decided to take a walk at night? You're seriously a lucky boy," Rein said again, sighing and looking at Zoro in awe and wonder.

"That's why I tell you, I was there not because I wanted to," Zoro protested again, now while frowning even though he was still a bit freaked out. "Anyway, what's with the other patients in that room? They saw the kid's dying and they didn't even lift a finger to help him! What a bunch of cold blooded bastards," Zoro cursed slightly, trying to change the topic.

Again, Rein stared at Zoro oddly, now he looked a bit concerned at him. "Zoro…you said something strange again. There's no other patient in that room except the kid," Rein said again.

_What—!?_

"Are you seeing things or something? The drug must take too much effect on you. I will try to change the brand…"

Then Rein's voice was slowly fading as Zoro turned and set his gaze at the corner of his room again. At the spot of that ghost woman was standing before, now three guys with the same hollow eyes and sickening pale skins were standing there, staring at him.

_You've gotta be kidding me—!_

Zoro widened his eyes as they met their gazes and then those three unidentified things smirked at him creepily.

Now Zoro's face turned from white to blue and he passed out again with a loud thud on his bed. Rein was surprised and tried to nurse him back to his consciousness, but Zoro didn't want to wake up anymore. He had had enough with this creepy experience and he sure as hell didn't want to get involved further.

However…reality never happened as planned.

Roronoa Zoro, 17 year old boy, died once and escaped from death and back to life with the help of his friend's spirit. He was thankful that he got a second chance to live, but it seemed he had to pay a high price for this chance. He had brought back a present from the land of the dead. His sixth sense was awakened and now he could see the dead around the living ones…

**End of Chapter 1**

**Tbc…

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**A/N: **I should treat this as a prologue, but well…just make it a first chapter, the beginning of a big adventure filled with mystery and horrors XD. How do you think, the idea of this story? Did I make it creepy enough? It's been long time since I want to write a horror story. I planned to make this multiple chapters with a lot of characters appearing and lots of kind of spirits and supernatural events (I have to research some of it first though), but the plot will circle around Zoro. There will be a little romance ZoSan too, but it's just a spice for this main plot. Anyway, I need your opinion on this. Well, I enjoyed making this though. Hope you like this as much as I do ^__^ Saa, let's meet again in next chapter. Love you all XD

**With Love,**

**Lunaryu~~~**


	2. Amateur's Hell

**A/N:** Err… I am actually still confused on how to make this story. The plot is ready of course, but I am not sure about the horror styles, Japanese or Western. It's hard to decide which one is better. Looking at the setting, probably Japanese is better, but western horror is also good. What do you think guys? Well, I'll open the poling to decide the horror style. You can choose and submit the poling in review, and I'll decide based on that. For now, I'll stick to general horror first ^_^. Saa, enjoy the shiver! XD

**Disclaimer: Odachi owns One Piece…**

**Warning: **_AU, possibly oOC-ness characters, horrible and disturbing images, foul language, mind-playing, and blood (maybe it's too much…)

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**The Connector**

**Chapter 2: _Amateur's Hell_**

Zoro stared at Rein Heart with unreadable expression, actually loathing and hating him inwardly.

If you wanted to know why, the young Roronoa was officially regarded crazy by his doctor. Okay, maybe crazy was a bit too much. The medical term was too complicated to remember by him; something like schizophrenia or what…heck, Zoro didn't care. It was an old story…or soon would become one after he finished with this _fucking_ test.

He wasn't crazy. Zoro was completely sane and he realized this fully. The _world_ had become crazy. Or let's say…his fate had begun to get crazy.

"Okay, Zoro, how many people in the room right now?" The young doctor smiled at him friendly after finishing his physical check on Zoro's body. His father and mother were looking at him worriedly behind Rein while his little brother was focused on his game boy without care about the world outside his own on a chair beside Zoro's bed.

_Four people—_Zoro's mind said slowly while his eyes were drifting to the other directions.

Actually, there were still more people…or let's say more occupants in the room. Extra four pairs of creepy eyes stared at Zoro silently from the corners of the room, at the left side and the right side. Zoro didn't recognize those four. He had no idea why they were here, in his room, and didn't have any plan to get information for that matter.

His family considering him crazy was more than enough for Zoro to realize that he couldn't take this further. Zoro would get out from this place even though he had to chug down his own blood. Using any means…he would make them believe that he wasn't seeing anything _weird_ or anything that they couldn't see.

Zoro also could hear strange sounds like the rustling leaves or like the radio transmitter but it wasn't in the right line. The green haired boy couldn't really comprehend what those sounds meant. Plus, it made him uncomfortable, as if his ears were being tickled.

_Egh, this is bullshit!_—Zoro cursed silently as he glanced at those unidentified things in the room. His family and doctor didn't pay any attention to them, so Zoro concluded that those things weren't the living beings. Actually, Zoro still couldn't believe that he could see them this clearly. He was almost sure that his doctor was right when he said he might suffer Schizophrenia because of the death-terror, but if he was crazy, he wouldn't be able to think to fake this, right?

Zoro wasn't crazy. Those things were real, and now he was able to see them after experiencing the taste of the life-death border. Thus, because anyone else couldn't see them, they thought Zoro might have lost his mind. That would be really funny if they were _kidding_. Unfortunately, they weren't.

_Fuck it_.

Zoro had decided to get out from this confined place, as well as to get away from those creepy beings. He didn't want to stay there long enough to experience the same thing as he had some days prior. He decided to hate those things. They made his physical condition worsen for crazy irrational reasons. He would feel dizzy and nauseous every time they came closer to him. He got nightmare every night seeing their dying-experiences. He might as well think he would definitely become nuts if he stayed in that place longer.

Zoro _freaking_ hated hospital now. He would make sure to never-ever had to come there again for whatever reason after this.

"Four people," Zoro finally said, answering the testing-like-inquiry after finishing his inner monologue. If he had waited longer than this, his parents might have suffocated themselves because they clearly sighed in relief at his answer.

"Okay, it seems the medication works just fine for you," Rein said again with happy tone as he scribed something on the paper in his hand. "Congratulation, you can go home after this, Zoro," he added and patted Zoro on his shoulders.

"Thanks to you, Doc," Zoro replied while smiling awkwardly. Ugh…he hated being polite when he didn't want to be. For some weird reasons, he couldn't act properly when there were too many people around him, including those creepy beings that couldn't be called _people_.

"What…aren't you just fine?" Suddenly Zoro's little brother, Haruto, spoke. His game boy was safely draped on the bed. The thirteen year old boy with smooth neck-length dark-green almost black hair and a nice-built but slender body stared at his older brother indifferently. "Everyone is exaggerating. What was it about the probability of big brother being crazy and had to stay in asylum?" The boy closed his dark emerald eyes and sighed in boredom at that. He also shook his head in that underestimating manner.

_This shitty-brat…!_—If Zoro was in his best condition, he would whack that boy's head for being so rude.

"That's right. I was just confused for some days. I am perfectly fine right now," Zoro nodded and ruffled his brother's hair, purposely using unnecessary strength to mess with it.

"Hey!" Haruto protested and smacked his arm _hard_. Zoro had to wince at that. His baby brother was still growing and during his absence, it seemed he had become taller and stronger than before. The hit hurt Zoro's arm a bit. Well, Haruto was also a Roronoa, no wonder he had that strength.

"It seems you're stronger now. Let's spar at home after this," Zoro smiled at his brother fondly.

"Careful, I bite," Haruto smirked at him challengingly.

"Oh my, don't be so high strung, boys, especially you, Zoro. You're still recovering from the fight wounds, right?" Zoro's mother, Aira, said while smiling softly. She was a beautiful woman with long wavy black hair which was tied high behind her head in an elegant flower bundle. She had a mature woman's charm with a very slender feminine body which fitted a _Kimono_ perfectly. Her black obsidian eyes stared at her sons gently and lovingly.

"Mother…," Zoro smiled small at his mother's gentle feature. "I am sorry for worrying you these past days." He closed his eyes and bowed a little before her.

"Well, I indeed nearly had a heart attack when I heard you died, Zoro," Aira chuckled as she remembered the silly-frightening event that she believed would scar her for life. "You're okay now. That's the most important thing," she continued while reaching at Zoro's hair and stroked it with her soft caring hand.

"Yes. Thank you, mother," Zoro lifted his head and smiled softly at her now.

"Mother complex," Haruto scoffed at his silly older brother, earning a sharp elbow on his ribs after that. He yelped and spouted more protests to Zoro then, while Zoro teased him some more. Their parents and Rein chuckled at the brothers' antique interaction.

And so…, Zoro was _finally_ brought home from the hospital at noon. Of course with some medications and some exercises planning before he was officially discharged as a healthy person again. Zoro didn't really care as long as he could go home. Hospital's food was shit and he didn't like taking shots too. Even without a bonusof the_ un-living-beings,_ hospital was a bad place for his taste. As long as he was home, he was free from the bonus…or so he thought.

Zoro never expected that outside the hospital, he would meet even more beings, various kinds of those things. Things that were considered not exist in this world…

**ZORO—RORONOA—ZORO**

Zoro couldn't help dropping his bag on the ground in front of the main front door of his family's traditional Japanese house. He widened his eyes and hung his jaw open. He didn't believe what he saw. There…exactly on each side of the sliding door was a body of human. Not ordinary human, by the way. They're bloodied, headless and were stuck on the wall as if they were the gates themselves.

If those horrible sight didn't freak him out, Zoro didn't know what could.

_What. The. HELL!?_—Zoro's face turned white seeing that and he would have screamed in horror if his shoulder hadn't been tapped from behind. Zoro jerked violently and turned his face at the intruder.

"What are you doing, spacing out in front of the door? Hurry up and move your ass inside, big-bro," Haruto said while taking Zoro's bag from the ground and walking ahead. He was about to touch the door when Zoro realized.

"Haruto!" The older brother shouted sternly at the younger one out of instinct to protect his brother from the headless beings at the door sides. Haruto was surprised at the sudden yell, of course, and turned his face at Zoro.

"What?" The younger boy asked wonderingly.

"Eh…, uh…," Zoro realized he hadn't prepared any explanation for his sudden weird act. "Ah…, I hope the chef will make lots of _onigiri_ (1) for lunch today…." Zoro scratched the back of his neck and laughed slightly.

If there was any dumber reason, Zoro would fail The Dumbest Reason Award right now.

There was a brief awkward silence between the brothers as Haruto stared at Zoro incredulously and Zoro was fidgeting. Roronoa Zoro was freaking _fidgeting_ for God's sake! Roronoa Zoro wasn't supposed to fidget for any reason. Haruto decided to look away from his out of character older brother in pale face and opened the sliding door. He entered the house while chanting _'I didn't see that'_ repeatedly.

Suddenly Zoro's head hurt badly the moment the door was opened. He covered his aching forehead as he heard the chiming sound coming from inside the house. "Wha—!?"

When Zoro looked inside the house…, even a mere _shock_ wouldn't suffice anymore. A 'deadly-shock' might do if there was no vocabulary to describe his feeling right now. Inside his house… there were so many of them, and they didn't stand still like the ones in hospital. They freaking flew around like buzzing armies of dragonfly; and their forms… _Oh My God_…

It even could make Zoro mention God's name although he never believed in their existence.

Zoro really didn't want to be there instantly. Heck, he wouldn't even think to step in that nest of un-living-beings for whatever reason. He didn't care even though it was his house. It was no longer his the moment he could see the _companions_ living with them silently until now. He couldn't help stepping back several times until he bumped Alan.

"Zoro?" Alan looked at his son's condition in concerned look. "What's wrong? Are you feeling sick?" he asked as he saw Zoro's face and expression. His boy was really pale and he looked…frightened?

"Da-father…," Zoro's voice sounded strangled. He couldn't tell the older man. He would be sent back straight to hospital if he ever mentioned anything about it.

_Shit…!_—Zoro cursed silently in his head. He really didn't want to come inside the house. He didn't want to… Heck, who would want to if they saw those kinds of things inside their house!? Still…, it would be extremely strange if he didn't want to enter his own house without reason. He… Didn't he have any choice!? _Damn it!_

Zoro closed his eyes and gulped slightly. "Ah…I am just a bit dizzy…." In the end, he was forced to lie. Zoro wasn't crazy and he didn't want to be considered crazy by anyone. He had to hide this fact as if he were about to die if it was necessary.

Roronoa Zoro was normal, and he would do anything to stay normal, as far as enduring living together with those un-living-beings inside that nest.

Zoro closed his eyes, took a deep breath and released it slowly. _It's okay, Zoro. Just act normally, like you didn't see anything. Just act like you usually did when you still couldn't see them at all—_Zoro chanted repeatedly in his head like a mantra. He usually did this when he was tense before his match. It would always succeed in calming him down.

Now shouldn't be too different. Zoro was just too tense and freaked out because he didn't expect that his opponents would be waiting in his own house. If he could act indifferently around them, it should be alright. They shouldn't notice at all…that he could see them.

Zoro clenched his fists and made his resolution. He opened his dark eyes and he was a fighter again. Well, even though his opponent wouldn't be Mihawk or those other fighters, now he had to focus on defeating his biggest enemy: _his own fear_. If he could conquer it, Zoro believed, he could be a better swordsman.

_Bring it on, ghosts or whatever you are!—_Zoro then straightened his body and walked forward to the house, not looking at the headless figures of the door sides, not caring about those things flying around him like flies when he walked passing them. He felt cold, dizzy and nauseous again, but he fought over it. He would win because he was Roronoa Zoro, the man who would become the best swordsman in the world!

**ZORO—RORONOA—ZORO**

Zoro was quite exhausted after he finished his training session. Oh no, not because the training was too hard or anything in that line. In fact, his training portion was reduced to half by his father because he was still recovering. What made him so tired was the fact that the occupants of the dojo weren't only him, his brother and his father, but also their-or let's say, Zoro's- creepy _companions_. Those guys…didn't hold back when they tried to distract them.

Haruto and Alan didn't see them, so they were perfectly okay. It was Zoro who was completely distracted. Not because he was afraid or anything, in fact, they tried to make him laugh with their stupid faces and their horrible horror sense! Zoro had to repeatedly look away from them so as not to laugh at them. Alan and Haruto would think he was completely nuts if he ever did laugh at the thin air; and those things would definitely notice that Zoro could see them. Then…it would be a hell for him after that. Of course, Zoro obviously didn't want that at all.

That's why; the green haired boy decided to control himself; and controlling yourself too much was exhausting to the extreme. Moreover he got hit here and there by his father and his brother's _shinai_ (2) because his concentration was distracted whenever those _things_ flew here and there, sometimes going through his body and sending a wave of feeling, mostly nausea though. Even for Zoro, it was too much.

In the end Alan noticed Zoro's unusual behavior and sent him to rest early. It was only the first day after he was discharged from the hospital after all. Alan believed Zoro still needed some rest. Zoro then gladly obliged. He was a training freak _if_ he wasn't distracted too much. Having this troublesome ability did turn Zoro's life upside-down a bit and he still needed more time to adjust himself to this change.

_Can I really get used to it?_—Somehow, Zoro felt unconfident. He doubted he could get used to it soon.

Zoro sighed and went back to his room to take a rest.

Well, on second thought, Zoro changed his course to the bathroom. He had to take a bath after working out so hard before resting after all. The warm water would relieve his tense muscles. It was his favorite relaxing time. The maids had prepared the bath for him and Zoro planned to take the opportunity to get away from all the troubles. He ignored some _beings_ that tried to distract him again when he was on his way.

Zoro wasn't sure why, but he couldn't hear their words. Sure, he could hear whispers and strange sounds, but he couldn't comprehend the meanings. They didn't sound like words, just like waves of buzzing sound. That's why Zoro didn't get it and he didn't plan to understand any of it. He shouldn't care too much about them or he would get more nightmares after this.

Zoro made sure that he was alone in the bathroom. It wouldn't even be funny if he had some ghosts -or whatever they were- stare at him openly when he took a bath. He would want to yell at them to stop looking. Zoro glanced left and right and nodded when he saw none of them. He took off his training suits and washed his body outside the bath for awhile before he got into the bath.

The water was still a bit too hot and he cringed a bit at the burning sensation, but after awhile his skin adjusted to the temperature and he could relax. Zoro straightened his legs and arms and laid down, all of his body under water except his face. He breathed evenly and slowly, closing his eyes.

_It's just the first day in this demon's lair. At least if I can pass this day normally, I can endure for more tomorrow or the day after tomorrow and the days after that. Then…without even realizing it, I won't care anymore about them…_—Zoro thought while sighing long in relief, relaxing even more. _Now, if I just…!?_

When Zoro opened his eyes, instead of the ceiling, he was met with a pair of bloody eyes. Zoro's body tensed at that and his face turned pale at the sight. However, he still could control himself and keep him from freaking out. He couldn't believe he didn't notice its presence before…no, he hadn't looked at the ceiling. He only checked as far as his eye-level. He didn't check above that. It was his terrible mistake.

_Just ignore it…, ignore it…, ignore it, damn it!_—Zoro chanted frantically inside his head, but he couldn't help it! The sight was so…so disgusting he couldn't ignore the damn thing!

It was…a woman or so, he thought, but her appearance was far from human, a living human, he meant. It was stuck on the ceiling at Zoro's opposite position. Its hair was long, messy and untamed, like a place on where spider webs would stick. It was so long it actually reached Zoro's face from the ceiling. Its body was somewhat transparent and Zoro THANKED GOD for that. He didn't want to see a dead woman's body after all. Well, the trace of blood and some things…that Zoro suspected as her inner organs –Zoro went paler and wanted to vomit at his own thought- were still visible though.

And the face… that half-skull cheek, its crimson bloodshot eyes…unlike the hollow looks he got in the hospital before, this one was filled with emotion, hatred…lunatic, Zoro had to admit he was a bit…uneasy. This one indeed looked a bit dangerous.

_Damn it all._

Zoro wasn't afraid of anything as long as he could cut it with his katana. This one… Could he even cut those damned beings? Moreover…the thing was actually moving down. Slowly…slowly it moved until it was exactly on top of Zoro's naked body. Worse even, it actually reached its rotten hands on his body!

_Damn perverted ghost!_—Actually, Zoro was ticked off very much by its ministration even though he still tried his best not to freak out of the thing. He tried hard, damn it! But…but…!

_Creepy…, disgusting…, creepy…, disgusting!_—Zoro's muscles tensed again as he concentrate to ignore the damn thing. However, because Zoro could literally feel the feather touches on his skin that felt as cold as death, it sent disgusting-horrible-feeling and shiver to his body.

It was impossible! It was too hard; too disgusting! Zoro was being molested by a damn ghost!

Zoro closed his eyes again slowly, gritted his teeth and clenched his fist in concealed anger and frustration. Veins popped out from his entire head surface and face. "Sto-…," and of course, the last straw of patience inside him had just snapped.

"CUT THE HELL OUT ALREADY! STOP MESSING WITH ME, YOU DAMN DISGUSTING SHITTY THINGS!"

In the end Zoro exploded, and even though he knew he couldn't touch the thing, he made an attempt to smack and kick it with all of his might. Then he hastily took his towel and covered his lower body before he got out from the bathroom. Zoro didn't really see what kind of reaction he got from the maids and the servants who saw him with that kind of appearance. He didn't even care about that. What he cared about was those things trying to obstruct his way.

"Move aside! Don't get in my way!" Zoro actually yelled at those things and sent a death glare at them even though they were already dead. Zoro roared like a lion and didn't care anymore if he would be considered nuts by his family after this. He couldn't stay in this demon's lair. He would definitely become crazy if he had to endure this any longer.

Zoro then went to his room and packed some of his clothes and provisions after he dressed in his black T-shirt and long dark blue jeans. He had had enough of this stupid disgusting un-living-beings business. He would get out from this place. He could care less about where he would sleep after this because he could sleep anywhere as long as they weren't around him.

Finishing his packing, Zoro went to his training room and grabbed his _Wadou Ichimonji_, his first real katana, a memento from Kuina, his beloved best friend. He put the white sheathed katana into a sword-case and took it with him together with his duffel bag. He would get out first. He would think to solve the problems after that later.

Zoro walked hurriedly to the front door while shouldering his bag and his katana. He was about to reach the front door when Haruto came out. "Big brother Zoro," he called Zoro and Zoro stopped briefly to turn his face at his little brother. Seeing Zoro's temper and his bag and that sword, Haruto changed his expression. "What the…?" The little brother was confused. Zoro looked like about to leave.

"I am going away," Zoro said seriously, his voice thick with something that scared the younger boy a bit.

"Huh?" Haruto was confused even more. "Wh-what the hell are you saying? Going away? Where? What happened?" he was totally out of it.

"I can't stay in this house. There are too many _things_ here!" Zoro still didn't want to call those things ghosts and of course didn't want to tell Haruto explicitly. That would freak the younger boy out and Zoro didn't like the idea of his brother fearing him, not even a bit.

"What things…?" Haruto widened his eyes at Zoro, more confused.

"Tell Dad I will be away for sometimes. Give my regard to Mom."

Zoro didn't say anything more after that and just left the house after shouting at the thin air. Haruto was dumbfounded for a moment before realization hit him in the head and he ran after his brother. "Wait, big brother!" However, when he was finally outside, Zoro was no longer in their house area. "Big brother Zoro…." Haruto couldn't help feeling worried and was still hell confused.

Anyway, Haruto was in a big trouble now. His father had ordered him to watch out for his big brother because he was still vulnerable, but the older boy had just left without any explanation. What the hell should he tell his father and mother about this then!? Damn, Haruto was in a deep shit.

However then, Haruto realized something. "Eh…, just now…did big brother Zoro call father and mother 'dad' and 'mom'?"

**ZORO—RORONOA—ZORO**

Zoro was still pissed off when he stormed outside his house area. The gate keepers even tried to stop him once, but he just glared deadly at them and they shut up, letting him go.

Zoro was actually a bit ashamed of himself. Even though this afternoon he had made a vow not to lose to those things, he couldn't even protect it. He had been defeated by his own fear. This wasn't like him. He had never felt this bad before. What happened to him? Did he turn to be a coward now, after that death experience?

Zoro didn't know how he would face Kuina if she decided to appear in front of him now. Or she probably wouldn't. She had been in _that_ place after all, at the other side of the tunnel. It had been a long time since she died… nine years ago.

Kuina was the only daughter of a dojo master from whom Zoro learned basic skills for kendo. She was three years older than Zoro and they had been best friends…rivals… although Zoro had never won against her in kendo match. Plus, Zoro might have had a crush on her and he couldn't do anything about it except challenging her every time he could and spent his time around her as much as he was allowed to. He believed he had to be stronger than her if he wanted her and wanted to protect her.

Zoro wanted to… but he had never had a chance to do it because Kuina passed away too early. A sickness… What an unfitting way to die. Zoro knew she was like a warrior. If she died, she wanted to die in a battle. Zoro was the last person she talked to before she died. He saw her last moment of life. She cried only in front of him while holding his hand tightly. She was so upset because she had to die in that condition.

Zoro honestly almost laughed because the way Kuina died pissed her off even more than the fact that she was about to die. She was that kind of person, a pretty tomboy girl with short dark hair and eyes. That's why; Zoro made a promise to her. On her behalf…he would become the best swordsman in this world for the sake of his dream and hers. For that promise alone, Zoro would endure any hard training and official match. He even entered that underground tournament for this purpose. Of course, he felt bad for having to deceive his dad, his family, and to break the law, but Zoro was desperate. He had to test his power in serious matches if he wanted to improve his skill and strength.

Swordsmanship wasn't a sport for children. It was a skill to kill and to end the opponent's life. Well, even though Zoro wouldn't kill his opponent, but the intention of killing was there, had to be there if he wanted to become the best.

Zoro's loss to Mihawk was a good lesson for him. He still could feel the chill that man's eyes gave him during the match. It was so cold, so…thirsty of blood. His killing intent almost broke Zoro's spirit even though in the end he could take it fully. Zoro had to admit he was afraid of human being for the first time in his life when he fought the man. When Zoro knew he would definitely lose, his principle, his pride and his promise to Kuina made him decide on the spot that he would rather die than run away from the fear.

Zoro had been so strong in his mentality that night that even Mihawk acknowledged his bravery. He gave the boy an honor by using his best weapon to give him a death blow… Well, even though the green haired boy could escape the death afterwards.

Zoro was supposed to be that kind of person, so why…? Why did he feel like such a loser right now? Why couldn't he stand those creepy things? They couldn't touch him. They weren't dangerous for his life. Well, they endangered his sanity of course, but it shouldn't scare him to this extent! What was wrong with him anyway?

Zoro was mad at himself for acting so cowardly, running away like this… and he punched a wall at the side of the street for a good stress-relief. He couldn't believe he was still such a kid who was afraid of something he didn't know how to handle.

Zoro needed some time off to think many things. Meditation might do well for this. The problem now was…how he could find a quiet place to do it? By _'quiet'_ he meant 'free from people and the un-living beings,' a place where he could concentrate and focus fully to himself.

Zoro thought hard, trying to remember if he had ever known that kind of place. Usually, a temple would be his first choice, but every temple in the city was close to cemetery. He couldn't imagine how many un-living-beings in the cemetery which was equivalent to their nest.

Remembering about nest, Zoro then suddenly wondered. _Why are there so many un-living-beings in our house?_

Of course, Zoro's family's house was old, passed down through generations. He believed it was almost 500 year old. Still, Zoro never heard any _bad_ history about the house. It wasn't an ex-cemetery or something like that, of course…so why?

When Zoro was still wondering like that, he didn't notice he was being followed by a strange figure beyond the darkness.

Zoro was close to a bridge near the biggest and the deepest river in Grand Line city when he was tired of walking and decided to take a rest at the end of the bridge. He stared at the night sky while leaning at the railing of the big bridge. He sighed and thought how he would look for a place to sleep from this point. He had a concern about school as well, and a hotel fee… Zoro groaned when he realized he wouldn't be able to afford it even for a night.

"What should I do now…sleeping under the bridge?" Zoro rolled his eyes at his own stupid suggestion. He should have really had a part time job if he had known he would face this kind of situation. "But wait," Zoro realized then, suddenly.

On second thought, wasn't Zoro one of the finalists in that underground fight? If he wasn't wrong, he should have a lot of money, a prize from that place waiting for him to claim it.

_How could I forget about it? If I can just show up there again and show my ID-card, they will give me the prize. I should go there…!?—_Zoro's train of thought was cut short when he caught a glimpse of a figure several feet away from his spot.

Zoro turned his face slowly at the figure. It was a man…or so. Well, at least he looked solid. His feet were on the ground as well. Still…Zoro felt something off about that man. He was tall, had black silky hair and wore glasses. He didn't face Zoro's way, so the teen didn't see his face clearly, but he wore a black long-coat with high collar that covered part of his lower face.

_What a suspicious looking person…_—Zoro thought silently.

The man seemed not noticing Zoro's presence there. He didn't do anything and just stared at the river from his place of standing. However, when Zoro was about to ignore him, the man suddenly moved and climbed the railing.

_Suicide—!?_

Zoro widened his eyes as he realized what that man was up to, and he acted out of instinct.

"Hey, wait—! That's dangerous!" The green haired boy shouted and ran as fast as he could to the man. He reached at the man, wanting to grab him before he fell from the bridge. However, when he was about to catch the hem of that man's coat, his hand passed through the body… like…literally.

Zoro was shocked. His physical movement was shut down for a moment as his mind screamed _'Impossible!'_

His body was petrified and he could only widen his eyes even more as he was losing balance. The grounds bellow his feet were gone and when he realized it, he was the one who was falling from the bridge.

Then…when he was falling, Zoro saw the man in the black coat above him. He fucking smirked widely at him with dilated pupils and cheek-splitting sneer. He sneered like…he had successfully deceived Zoro and set him off in this kind of situation, near-death situation.

Zoro couldn't even scream. He could only reach his hand at the thin air. At this moment, time seemed like moving so slowly. Zoro could hear his own frantic heartbeats. His heart beat so fast and hard he thought it would definitely burst out his ribcages.

As Zoro's mind screamed at his own idiocy, thought that he would definitely die this time and his vision slowly turned into the darkness, a hand suddenly caught his wrist.

"What the hell do you think you're doing!?"

A loud yelling voice brought Zoro back to reality and he was yanked up. His hand felt like almost torn off his shoulder as it happened and he yelped painfully. "Ekh!?" Zoro couldn't really comprehend what had just happened.

"Do you want to die!? Use your other hand and grab at mine, idiot!"

The voice came from above Zoro's head, so he slowly looked up and was met with a figure of a man with silver hair with light greenish tint on it. His face was serious, hard and looked angry, but Zoro could see the worry in the man's sharp dark-green eyes.

"Hey, are you listening to me, brat!? Grab at my other hand or I will let go of your hand, NOW!" The man shouted and Zoro cringed at that. Zoro still didn't understand because he was still shocked, but he knew one thing: _he would die if he didn't hear this guy's words._

Without any delay, Zoro reached his other hand at the man's free hand. "Focus on me, boy. Don't look down." The man said to Zoro, now with a better tone than before. Zoro obliged and kept looking at the man's serious concentrating face. Then slowly but definitely, he was lifted and short time later, he had been back on the inside of the railing.

Zoro collapsed on his knees on the bridge ground. He felt all his strength drained away and he still could hear his own crazy heartbeats. He was sweaty, cold and panting heavily. He was just about to… Zoro shivered and paled severely at the thought of dying again.

Dying was a horrible experience even for Zoro. He didn't think he could stand experiencing that again so soon.

"Damn brat. What the hell are you thinking? Were you trying to commit suicide just now?" The man then stood before Zoro and glared down at him with a scornful look. He looked really pissed off right now.

Zoro was still panting as he looked up at the man again. He opened his mouth, but his voice was stuck in his throat. Zoro could only groan and cover his forehead. Suddenly he felt really dizzy and nauseous again. He glanced beside the man, rather behind, and saw the un-living-being that tried to harm him earlier. It showed so much hatred and anger that its ministration was failed by the man in front of Zoro. It glared deadly at the man, and Zoro paled again seeing it.

The eyes… they were worse than Mihawk's hawk eyes. The eyes from the dead… Suddenly Zoro felt he had understood the reason for his unexplained fear towards them. He had a second thought about those things. They were more dangerous than what he had expected. They could actually do harm to the living. This one was the proof. It had nearly killed Zoro and it was on purpose.

It seemed Zoro was thinking too long that the stranger in front of him got impatient. He knelt beside Zoro and set his face in front of the green haired boy's nose. "Hey, did you hear what I said?" He asked seriously. "If you indeed want to commit suicide, I don't care, but do it somewhere else. This area is my responsibility and I don't want you to ruin my reputation by dying in my working place," he added with scrutinizing eyes.

"Huh?" Zoro then perked up at seeing the man's face so close to his. "Oh," Zoro moved backward and gave his full attention to the man now. "Ah, no, I am—, I was…, it was a mistake," Zoro actually stuttered and he cursed inwardly because he did something stupid.

Roronoa Zoro didn't stutter, damn it, but he couldn't really help it. He was still not capable of making a right conversation right now. His mental state was still unstable because he was almost getting killed by a freaking un-living-being that looked like human so much he couldn't even distinguish it from them.

Well, Zoro had felt that the thing was odd, but earlier he thought it was because of its appearance. Zoro didn't expect that it was one of _those things_. He looked too much like a human. Zoro didn't know that that kind of thing existed among _them_. Before, he could tell which one was human and which one wasn't because these things' appearance looked dead.

Still…, that thing… that damned thing just now looked almost alive. It got more much color than the ones in Zoro's house and hospital. It couldn't be distinguished from human, except it might not be seen by other people and couldn't be touched.

"What was a mistake?" The silver haired man asked Zoro with demanding tone. He was completely dark here and he needed an explanation.

"I meant…I don't want to commit suicide," Zoro answered slowly, not looking at the man but at his hand that he used to reach the thing earlier. "I thought it was human…," Zoro continued lowly while closing his eyes and covering his face. He was confused. He was… Zoro didn't understand.

The thing tried to kill him. Why? What did he do to it? Why did it hate him?

_Why…when my hand passed through its figure…, why did I feel so sad and miserable?_—Zoro once again looked at the thing. It still glared loathingly at him and at the man in front of him. _Why…even though it is full of hatred and anger… why does it feel so much in pain in my heart?_

Zoro was so tired and his head felt really heavy suddenly. Then his eyes began to blur and he was about to collapse when the man in front of him caught his body before it hit the ground.

"Oi, are you okay?" The man asked a bit worriedly, but his voice sounded so far from Zoro.

Zoro groaned and tried to focus, but his eyelids felt really heavy as well suddenly. He closed his eyes and was slowly losing his consciousness as the darkness crept on his sight. He still could hear the man's voice calling him, not his name, just occasional 'boy,' but it wasn't long before Zoro was completely engulfed by thedarkness. In the end, Zoro passed out again.

The man, who later would be known as Comodore Smoker, supported the unconscious body in his arm and sighed tiredly at the boy. "Damn it," he cursed slightly and changed their position. He put the boy's right arm on his own neck, held it with his own right hand and put his own left hand on the boy's waist.

With this boy's body shape, it was impossible to lift the boy bridal style. Not because Smoker couldn't lift him or he was too heavy, but it would look really stupid and laughable, so Smoker stuck with the plan to support him while walking him to his patrol car. Smoker hadn't known who this boy was…yet, but he planned to know later.

Looking at the situation… with this boy's duffel bag he seemed like running away from his house. Smoker then moved his gaze at the long dark-green case beside the bag. He stared at it carefully before he realized. _Huh? Is that a swords-case?_—Smoker thought weirdly.

The silver haired man in a police uniform looked at the boy's feature once again. _Green hair, nice body shape and sword…_ Somehow Smoker felt familiar with the characteristic, but was it really him?

Smoker shook his head. Treating this boy came first. Who knew what _that thing_ had done to the kid?

Smoker stood while holding Zoro carefully. Then he gazed at the thing standing near them. "Get lost." He growled while glaring at the thing and it widened its eyes in a shock as a wave of energy struck it. Then its form was slowly fading away, leaving only the thin night air in the end.

"Hump. Damn ghost."

**End of Chapter 2**

**Tbc…

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**Notes:**

1)_Onigiri_: rice ball, filled with salmon, salt, or fishes' egg and warped with _nori_ (a kind of black sea-weed species in Japan; it's regulated and dried in paper sheet-like shape)

2)_Shinai:_ sometimes called '_boken;'_ it is a wooden-sword for kendo practice

**A/N: **Heya, friends. This is the second chapter for this story. It took me longer to make this because ff net had been messing with me. Huh? I am not mad. It was just I have to delay the update which was supposed to be yesterday and sent message to the admin because I couldn't upload the new chapter. Luckily, I am a creative person, so I can use my previous sheet in doc manager and copy paste the new chapter to the old document, so I can update now even though the help haven't come yet.

Okay, enough with the rambling. Now about this story. How is it? Hmm…do I make this chapter good enough? How about the story development and the creepiness? Is it creepy enough for you? I personally favor the bathroom's scene. It is really creepy until I can't go to the bathroom that night XD. For your information, I finished this chapter at 2 a.m. Crazy, right? I hope you enjoy reading this as much as I have fun making it. Well, comments? I need your ideas of which was better, Japanese horror style or Western horror style.

**With love,**

**Lunaryu~~~**


	3. Grudge Part 1

**A/N:** Update, update, update! XD At last…for everyone who has voted, thank you very much. The result of the voting is four points for Japanese horror style and two points for Western horror style. So, this story will also follow the result. Main plot for this story will be filled with Japanese horror, but I will still maintain general occult in some chapters. There will also be some Japanese phrases and kinds of Japanese demons appear in this story, but I will try to translate it as much as I can find the literal English translation for them.

Then~ let's go to the story! This is chapter 3, please enjoy! XP

**Disclaimer: As always, One Piece is Oda's.**

**Warning: **_AU, possibility of oOC-ness, horrible and disturbing images, foul language and a bit of blood…

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_

**The Connector**

**Chapter 3: **_**Grudge (Part 1)**_

Had Zoro ever mentioned that his hobby was sleeping? Well, he was indeed fond of sleeping. Precisely, he loved the dream world created by it. It was a world where everything worked the way he wanted. He was the king of that world and nothing could defy him there.

That's why; he hated it most when anyone, _anything_, disturbed his nap.

Zoro heard some voices of women giggling and there were also mewling sounds as well.

_What the hell…?_—Zoro frowned deeply at that with eyes still firmly closed. He shifted and attempted to ignore the voices. It was probably the servants and some cats.

However, when he felt that something hard hit his forehead, he couldn't ignore that.

"The hell—!?" Zoro sat up and was about to snap.

However, when the green haired teen opened his eyes, as a substitute of his comfortable room, he found an unbelievable world around him.

Instead of yelling, Zoro felt like gaping right now.

_Where the hell…is this?_—Zoro widened his eyes and set his confused look, looking around him with a bead of sweat on his cheek. He was immediately certain that he wasn't in his own room. The view of his surrounding was definitely unfamiliar and was that iron walls?

_Who the hell would build a wall using iron?_—Zoro thought ridiculously. _No, that's not the problem right now. Why am I in a place like this? Where the heck is this place?_

Zoro then shook his head and forced himself to calm down. He needed to analyze his situation first.

Zoro looked at himself. He was still fully clothed. The bed on which he was right now was a twin-sized bed with white blanket and was seated in the middle of the room. On his surrounding, against the wall, except in front of the iron door, were bookshelves filled with a lot of books. There was a desk beside the bed and his duffel bag was silently placed on top of it along with his sword-case.

_Wadou!?_—Zoro hurriedly reached for his sword-case and opened it. His sword, _Wadou Ichimonji,_ was still there, safe and untouched. Zoro sighed slightly. _She's fine…—_somehow he was relieved seeing his white-sheathed sword unharmed.

_But…where the hell is this place anyway?—_Zoro tried to remember how he ended up there, and when he was about to remember _the incident_ the night before, the iron door was opened so suddenly that it almost freaked him out.

Someone, a man, came in and lifted his face at seeing Zoro already up looking at his way.

"Oh, you're up finally?" A silver haired man with a green tank top and grey long pants greeted Zoro, a lit cigar dangling between his lips and teeth.

"Oh." And finally Zoro remembered upon seeing the police's face.

"Take it easy. You've been quite drained up yesterday." The older man said while walking to his direction; and then he put down some stuffs on the table. He glanced at the sword-case on Zoro's lap and chose to ignore it a moment later. He sat down and took some papers out of the map in the stuffs before beginning to read them.

Zoro didn't know how to greet him. It wasn't like the teen was shy or anything, but the man had an aura that seemed making him hard to approach. "Uh, um…." Zoro began with a hesitant utterance to attract the other man's attention.

The silver haired man turned his face at Zoro. "What?" he asked.

"About yesterday…thank you." Zoro didn't forget his manner. He was saved by the man yesterday and hadn't thanked him yet. Before he asked anything else, he should show his gratitude first.

"You're welcome." The man nodded at him slightly and went back reading.

"Um…," Zoro began again.

"What now?" The man turned his face again at the green haired boy with an annoyed look.

"Don't you want to ask anything?" Zoro asked finally.

"There are a lot of things I want to ask, but they can wait. Rest a bit more. It's still 3 a.m." The man responded slowly turning his attention back to his paper. "Anyway, I have to read this first. Just stay there and sleep." He added before Zoro could say anything.

Zoro hated being ordered around, but this man was his savior, so he would shut up for now and do as he said…well, at least for a short period of time.

Zoro put his sword-case down leaning on the bedside. Then he laid back down. He stared silently at the silver haired guy who was absorbed by the reading material on his hand. He looked serious and gruffly, but he didn't look like a bad person. He saved Zoro's life after all.

After several minutes staring, Zoro began to get sleepy. He was about to fall asleep when he heard the rings of a cell-phone. He was startled and leaped his eyelids open.

The silver haired man took out a cell-phone from his pocket and answered. "Hello." He greeted. "No, not really," he paused for awhile. "This is still a freaking blind morning, Tashigi. I don't feel like going." He stopped again to listen to the person he called Tashigi on the other line. "He's caught?" The man raised his eyebrows in surprise. "Then you can handle it for tonight. I'll come over tomorrow," he said and then paused again before his facial expression changed slightly annoyed. "I am hanging up," and he did.

The man tossed his cell-phone at the pile of papers on the table and yawned. "Spoiled subordinate," he muttered and set his eyes at Zoro who was still staring at him. "You're not sleeping." He said, wondering.

"Um…I just can't fall asleep again," Zoro said. Well, it wasn't entirely true, but it wasn't a lie as well. He was curious about the man in front of him.

"Then might as well wake up and talk." The man said with a strangled smile. It seemed he wasn't used to smiling.

"Uh… I guess," Zoro then woke up and sat on the bed again. "Err…this place is…?" Zoro looked around again.

"My house. This is my room." The man answered.

"And you are…?" Now the green haired boy looked at the man.

"Comodore Smoker," the man said again.

"Mr. Comodore, then…" Zoro called.

"Smoker is fine." Smoker said again.

"Oh, okay, Smoker, I am…." Zoro stopped as Smoker raised his hand.

"Let me guess. Roronoa, right?" Smoker smirked at him.

"How did you…?" Zoro looked confused.

"Who else has green hair in this nation aside people from Roronoa family?" Smoker laughed slightly. Zoro looked a bit surprised and bewildered at that. "Then, how do people call you? Just Roronoa?" he asked further.

"Uuh…usually they call me by my given name, Zoro." Zoro answered unsurely.

"Zoro then… Roronoa Zoro, huh? Not bad," Smoker said while smiling a bit naturally now. His gaze seemed distant, as if he were remembering something while taking a long drag of his cigar.

"Um… You know my family then?" Zoro asked out of curiosity, as well as to try taking Smoker's attention back at him.

"Your family is famous. Your dad, especially," Smoker said again while blowing the smoke slowly.

"Ah, I see…," Zoro was silent for awhile before he decided to ask uneasily. "Are you by chance a friend of my father?" His father had a lot of connections after all and Zoro didn't want to go home yet, not before he could conquer his fear of those _things_.

"Kind of. Let's say we're acquaintances," Smoker answered lightly.

"I see…." Zoro looked at another way, musing on how to ensure this man not to send him back home despite his situation. Smoker was silent and kept watching him with observing gaze. Zoro then ended his thought and decided to ask for a favor from Smoker. "Um…are you going to contact my dad?" Zoro asked, dropping his honorable way to call his father.

"What? Don't you want me to contact him?" Smoker asked, slightly interested with the boy's personality now.

"Uh…not really," Zoro said hesitantly.

"Running away from home because of rebellious age?" Smoker partly tried to tease the boy's as well.

"It's not like that!" Zoro responded back heatedly.

Seeing the boy's determined look, Smoker decided it was enough for teasing and answered his question earlier. "Well, depends then," Smoker said while slowly releasing the smoke again.

"On what?" Zoro looked obviously nervous at that.

"The reason of your behavior last night," the older man answered. "Were you trying to kill yourself, Zoro?" he repeated his question he threw at Zoro the night before, after he saved the boy's life.

"No" was Zoro immediate sure answer. However, the young Roronoa didn't continue his explanation.

Smoker kept his eyes at Zoro, but the young man didn't look faltered under his sharp gaze. He stared back at him surely. "Then what was it? Don't tell me you were trying to jump off because you wanted to swim in the river in the middle of the night." He said again, setting his cigar on his hand.

"No" was Zoro's response again. He then put the back of his hand in front of his mouth, thinking. He debated if he should tell the police—Zoro knew from the uniform Smoker was wearing yesterday—about the incident yesterday honestly or make up some more reasonable stories. The actual story sounded too crazy after all and Zoro didn't want to be called a nutcase by a stranger… well, by Smoker in this case. Technically, he was still a stranger. Zoro hadn't known anything about him aside his name and his job.

Zoro then decided he could try the man after evaluating his serious feature. "This might sound crazy," Zoro said suddenly.

"Try me." The man dared him with an indifferent look.

"I saw some…_one_ on that bridge." Zoro gave up mentioning a '_thing' _instead of_ 'someone'_ for safety reason. "He was about to jump off to the river." Zoro said slowly.

Smoker was silent for approximately five seconds without leaving Zoro's eyes, trying to seek lies there, but he didn't find any, so he sighed with a small grunt. "So, you'd seen _him_ too." He said, completely surprising Zoro.

"Wha—? _'Too'_? Are you—?" Zoro was gaping at Smoker, shocked and confused.

"Was it this guy?" Smoker didn't explain anything seeing Zoro's bewildered expression, but he thrust a paper in front of Zoro's face. It was a photograph and the face of a black haired man in it was freaking familiar to him.

"It's him!" Zoro took the photograph and examined the feature of the man closely. He was wearing round glasses just like last night and the slimy black hair featuring his sadistic smile sickened him a bit as Zoro remembered the event.

"I thought so." Smoker put his cigar on an astray as he took back the photograph from Zoro's hand. "The other victims also said the same thing when we interrogated them," he said again.

"Huh? The other victims?" Zoro looked at Smoker with a puzzled look.

"There were others who just like you, trying to jump from that bridge," Smoker informed.

"What?" Zoro was really surprised at that.

"That's the reason I am keeping a watch on the bridge." Smoker stared at the man's face in the photograph for a moment before he set his gaze at Zoro again. "The victims kept saying they saw this man there, trying to jump from the bridge. They tried to stop him. This entire month, there have been five people excluding you."

"Five!?" Zoro widened his eyes at that. "But, how—, I mean…why didn't police do something and catch the guy then? He caused all the incidents!" Zoro protested at Smoker.

"Catching him?" Smoker raised one of his eyebrows at Zoro. "I thought you'd already tried that yesterday. Did you _catch _him?" he asked knowingly.

Zoro turned pale as he remembered how he fell in the first place. He tried to catch the man, indeed. Still, when he gripped at him, his hand went through the man's body. "Ugh…." He gritted his teeth at the memory.

"This guy died on that bridge," Smoker said, startling Zoro. "Murdered by someone that we believed to be his partner," he continued.

"Murdered…?" Zoro looked curious at that.

_So it was once a human…_

"This man was a serial killer that roamed in this area some years ago. He escaped from prison two months ago with the help of someone we didn't know, and had already killed two people in his attempt to run away. The police tried their best to catch him; and last month, we succeeded on cornering him, along with the one that helped him, on that bridge." Smoker began to explain further. "This man…," Smoker tapped the guy's face in the picture with his forefinger, "-he held the other guy back because he was injured on his leg. He was stabbed and thrown at the river so the other could escape." He continued.

"That's horrible…." Zoro felt sick immediately.

"No need to pity him. He deserved that," Smoker said coldly.

"I don't pity him." Zoro denied. "That _thing_ almost killed me yesterday." He pointed that out clearly.

"That _thing_?" It amused Smoker how Zoro referred the guy.

"I refuse to call it a ghost." Zoro said and then hurriedly clasped his mouth shut upon realizing what he just said. "Forget that I said anything." He added immediately while looking at anywhere but Smoker, with a blushing face.

Smoker thought for a second seeing Zoro's feature and was about to say something when he suddenly stopped. He felt something up and stood.

Zoro looked at him wonderingly. "What?" he asked.

"It's a _guest_," Smoker said while walking to the door. "Stay here and keep quiet, Roronoa Zoro." Then he opened the door and left before closing the iron door again, leaving Zoro alone in the room, looking completely puzzled.

Smoker went out of the room and saw a figure beside his dinner table. A woman with a long brown hair stood quietly there. Her color was so pale and he could pinpoint some traces of blood on her clothes and her head.

"You again…." Smoker muttered slowly with a troubled look. "I already told you I can't hear what you're saying. I can't help you with anything." He said sternly.

The woman raised one of her hands and pointed at Smoker's room direction silently.

"You—, how did you know _he_'s here?" Smoker gave her a suspicious look before looking at his room as well.

_He's attracting this thing huh…despite the protection of the room? What a troublesome kid...._

Smoker sighed and set his gaze back at the woman. "I don't know from where you know about him, but he's under my care now. Get lost," Smoker said with such intensity that threatened the woman. She slowly disappeared from Smoker's sight with a hurtful look.

Smoker looked at his room again after making sure she wasn't around anymore. "It seems he gives out a _smell_. They will crowd him around if he doesn't switch off the button." Smoker muttered lowly again while thinking. "He definitely needs a help." He added while walking back to the room. He would talk to Zoro personally regarding this matter.

**ZORO—RORONOA—ZORO**

Zoro couldn't help widening his eyes seeing what he saw.

Smoker was talking to an _un-living-being_. That must have been a joke. Still…he clearly saw that through a small glass-window beside the iron door. He thought this place was completely sealed before, but upon searching its ventilation he found a little window that allowed him to peer outside that door.

Zoro saw a dining room there and a woman standing in front of Smoker. What caught Zoro most of the woman's feature was her pale almost transparent body. He immediately knew it wasn't human, but what shocked Zoro even more after that was the fact that Smoker _talked_ to it.

Zoro didn't actually hear what he was saying, but looking at him opening and closing his mouth while facing that _thing_ with a serious look was enough proof that he _saw_. Smoker…could see them too, couldn't he?

Several minutes later, Smoker was back in the room. Zoro was back on the bed, face looking clearly disturbed as he looked at Smoker's wondering one.

"What?" Smoker asked.

Zoro was silent for a moment before he dared himself ask. "Smoker…you see _those things_ too?" Zoro's face was desperate.

Smoker sighed at that. _So it's about that…—_he thought slowly. He sat down on the chair and took a new cigar. He lit the thing and took a long drag from it before he answered Zoro.

"Yes, I see them." Smoker nodded slightly while blowing the smoke again.

"Then…I am _not _crazy. Those things are real." Zoro clenched his fists and looked at his knee seriously.

"I see… The reason you're running away is _this_?" Smoker guessed again. Zoro hadn't answered as he added the question. "They don't believe in your eyes?"

"I don't blame them. My family can't see. Heck, I as well…if I hadn't died once, I wouldn't have been able to see." Zoro said while closing his eyes.

"Died once?" Smoker looked curious at that.

"I died once." Zoro nodded and lifted his shirt to show his wound. "Got slashed by a sword and died, but I came back." Zoro let the shirt fall again to cover his wound after Smoker saw it.

"Near-death experience, huh? So you got the ability recently," Smoker nodded. "Though…I have to wonder why you got the wound. You aren't doing something crazy and law-breaking, are you?" The man narrowed his eyes at Zoro.

_Shit. Forgot he's a police…—_Zoro immediately looked at another way, escaping the scrutinizing gaze.

"W-well…, that's a mistake of me, but I didn't do anything bad," Zoro said slowly. "I just…need a way to test my ability," he continued again. "-and that's not the problem here. I have to do something to this new ability so I won't get freaked out by those damn things!" Zoro set his sure annoyed gaze back at Smoker.

"That's not the entire problem," Smoker said in response. "The fact that you can see them but unable to distinguish them from humans is more concerning."

"I can distinguish them from human." Zoro said.

"Then what about yesterday accident?" Smoker asked.

"That's because…that _thing_ resembled human too much…." Zoro said unsurely.

"That's right. There are many things like him outside. Are you sure you can distinguish them if they have the appearance of human again? They can deceive people and do harm to the livings, especially an inexperienced guy like you. You have a troublesome ability and they want _you_. If you can't protect yourself, don't bother trying to do something." Smoker said.

"But I have to do something! I have to conquer the fear so I can go home!" Zoro raised his voice. "I don't know why there are so many things inside my house. The numbers are abnormal and I don't know if they're dangerous or not. I have to do something so their existence will not bother me or if they mean something bad, I can stop them." Zoro set his eyes at Smoker in blazing gaze. He was determined to fight those things, not to run away from them. He only had to know how to fight them, that's all.

Smoker was silent for a moment, evaluating the boy's spirit before he nodded. "Alright." He said slowly. Zoro's expression changed slightly in surprise. "I know someone who can help you with that. However, I'll warn you this. You'll have to get through a hell to reach the goal. Do you still want to go?" he asked in a serious expression.

"If I can obtain the skill to control this new ability and to use it for good, I'll do it." Zoro said with a determined gaze. Hell training wasn't rare for him, so he could manage.

"You'll get nuts if you fail," Smoker smirked.

"I am on the verge of snapping my own sanity here. Might as well get crazy for it," Zoro smirked back at him.

Smoker was a bit surprised when he saw Zoro's stubborn expression. He chuckled at him. "Well, well…like father like son, huh?" he mumbled something that made Zoro wonder.

Still, Zoro didn't have a chance to ask about that because Smoker had already turned his back and taken some paper from the table.

Smoker turned his face at Zoro again. "I'd like to help, but I have to finish a case first. Are you going to help me with it?" He asked Zoro with a smirk on his face.

"Is that okay? I mean…that's a police work and I am still a student," Zoro asked in a surprised look.

"It's okay. Anyway, this has something to do with that _thing_ which tried to kill you yesterday, so I thought you might want to know why he did that." Smoker offered.

"Well…I want to know, indeed…." Zoro thought slightly interested.

"Then…do you want to _talk_ to that thing?" Smoker asked.

"Eh…?"

**ZORO—RORONOA—ZORO**

Some hours later in the morning…

"Um….," Zoro couldn't help mumbling hesitantly at the sight in front of him.

_Well, I might misunderstand something but…isn't that a police station?_—Zoro thought a bit warily.

"What?" Smoker turned his face at Zoro when he heard the mumble.

"Smoker… why are we here again?" Zoro asked while glancing at Smoker in confusion.

"I told you we'd talk to the _thing_," Smoker said as he took out a key from his pocket.

"Err…in a police station?" Zoro asked again, doubting that.

"What, you don't believe me?" Smoker smirked at the green haired boy challengingly.

"Well…I have a bunch of reasons why I shouldn't believe you… like you actually consider me crazy or like you'll send me back home after contacting my father without me knowing it. Then you bring me to a police station because my father has been waiting here or something like that." Zoro listed the possibilities with an indifferent expression even thought he was hell worried on the inside that those possibilities might be true.

Smoker laughed slightly at that. "Why would I do that?" he asked, pretty amused as he opened the door and walked inside the station.

"You're a police. At least there are procedures you've to follow, right? I mean…you're facing a running away child and all." Zoro asked, following the man inside.

Some people with police uniform inside the station stood from their chairs as they saw Smoker enter. They quickly paid him a regard and greeted him.

"Well yeah, but it doesn't mean I will set you up." Smoker said before he returned the greetings and let them back with their work.

Zoro looked at those people warily before he asked again. "Then why did you bring me here?"

"I figure it would be troublesome to explain when we're home with nothing to look at, so I think explaining here while we can see the full file would be much easier to understand." Smoker walked ahead to a certain wooden door at the deepest part of the station and used the key he had brought out earlier to open the lock.

"Oh." Zoro nodded and followed the silver haired man as he entered the dark room.

Smoker turned on the light and Zoro was greeted by a room full of papers and maps. "The full file is in here. We should find as much information as we can about _him _before we actually meet and talk to _the thing_ in person." Smoker said.

"That's confusing. Just refer the thing with _him_ rather than the _thing_. It used to be a man, right?" Zoro frowned at that because he began to get confused with the pronoun.

"You're the one who referred it _the thing_ in the first place." Smoker pointed that out while raising one of his eyebrows after closing the door again.

Zoro groaned realizing that Smoker was right. Smoker laughed at him.

"Well, if I am not wrong…," Smoker fished out some papers behind much more piles of paper and maps. "This is the full file. You can read it first and ask if there's something you don't understand." Smoker handed the papers to Zoro.

Zoro looked at the paper. There was a small photograph of that man at the upper right part of the paper and his identity at the first paragraph.

_Kuro Kurahadol, 34 year old, man…_

As Zoro read further information of the man he frowned at the news he got. "What the hell—?"

"What?" Smoker asked.

"He killed his own family?" Zoro couldn't believe his eyes.

"That's right. Before he was officially regarded as a serial killer, he killed his wife and children and kept them inside their house until his neighbors noticed the smell of rotten corpses." Smoker informed further as Zoro confirmed it with the notes. He looked a bit pale at that.

"Why did he do that…?" Zoro didn't understand while reading further, hoping to find an answer.

"We don't know the reason. He kept silent about it when he was under our custody. Do you have any idea what the reason might be?" Smoker asked for Zoro's opinion.

Zoro was silent as he read further for the guy's profile. "He didn't look like an insane person though…." Zoro mumbled slowly.

"Oh, he wasn't insane, not even a bit. He was a very clever intelligent killer who had always escaped our clutch on his run using any means. We knew he was the culprit, but we couldn't touch him until three years ago where one of his victims escaped from him and reported him to the police." Smoker said.

"His last victim is still alive then?" Zoro asked.

"This is his last victim before Kuro was caught." Smoker handed Zoro another paper, a photograph actually. Zoro received the picture and handed the other back to Smoker. Then he looked at the person in the picture, a man with curly long brown hair wearing heart-shaped glasses. "His name is Jango."

"Jango?" Zoro raised his face at Smoker from the stupid-looking picture.

"He is a dancer in Kuroneko Bar," Smoker informed again.

"Then… what does this have any to do with our plan to talk to Kuro?" Zoro asked, not really catching where their conversation would lead him.

"I have a hunch that this man knows why Kuro is still in this world after his death." Smoker said to the point.

"Why is that?" Zoro asked, still not really understanding it.

"Well…when we talk to him, we'll know." Smoker said while looking at Kuro's face on the paper seriously.

**ZORO—RORONOA—ZORO**

"This is the bar." Smoker said, informing Zoro while knocking at a pair of folding door that would lead them to the stairs to the underground room. Above them was a big wooden sign with a black cat as a symbol. The letters under the picture said 'Kuroneko Bar.'

Zoro stared at Smoker with a weird expression for a moment. "You realize I am still a minor, don't you?" he asked.

"No problem. It's still day time and you're with me. We're only here for investigation purpose." Smoker said while opening the folding door. Then he entered the place while Zoro could only sighed, following him.

"I still don't understand why we're here instead of on the bridge," Zoro said slowly.

"Keep your face hidden kid. We don't know what kind of people we'll find here." Smoker said, smirking while pulling down Zoro's hat-which Smoker insisted him to wear for safety reason-, annoying Zoro a little.

Zoro wasn't a kid, damned it; and Smoker didn't even answer his question.

They're in front of the entrance of the bar now and Smoker opened it just like that without warning. A bar keeper was sweeping the floor as both men entered.

"Sorry, we're still closed." The man with a white suit and black pants said without turning his face at Zoro and Smoker.

"We're looking for someone." Smoker said slowly and paused until the bartender looked at his way.

"My, Colonel Smoker; it's been awhile since the last time I saw you." The bartender's face lightened up a little as he saw who came to his store.

_Colonel? Smoker is a colonel?_—Zoro was a bit surprised at that. Well, he thought he was still a sergeant; he looked a bit young for a colonel after all.

"How are you doing, Master?" Smoker greeted him politely.

"I am fine as usual. Everything is for business." He said with a wide smile.

_It seems he's not the bartender, but the bar owner… Are they friends? They look close…—_Zoro wondered a bit as he saw Smoker chit-chat with the bar owner.

"Oh, it seems you're not with Tashigi today. Are you changing partner?" The bar owner asked after he saw Zoro behind Smoker.

"No, he's just a kid I am currently taking care of," Smoker said slightly. "Zoro, introduce yourself," he said while looking at Zoro expectantly.

That annoyed Zoro the hell out. "Hey, I am not your subordinate, so DON'T order me around!" he finally snapped.

"My, my, a hot-blooded young man, huh?" the Master laughed slightly seeing Zoro's attitude.

"That's not an order. It's a request." Smoker said while raising one of his eyebrows.

"Then show it as a request!" Zoro said again a bit fuming.

"Okay, please introduce yourself." The police smirked at him teasingly.

_Bastard!_—Zoro glared at the older man obviously irritated, while the other was sniggering.

Zoro then looked at another way, huffing angrily. "Roronoa Zoro, nice to meet you," he said slowly.

"Roronoa?" Master seemed a bit surprised hearing his name. "Ah, that boy who got slashed by Hawk Eye," he said, remembered. Zoro jolted and Smoker looked at Master in a surprised look.

"Hawk Eye?" Smoker widened his eyes at that.

_Shit!—_and Zoro paled.

"Yeah, in final round of underground—hmp!?" Before Master could say further, Zoro had covered his mouth with both hands in a panicked look. Master could only set his confused look.

Smoker narrowed his eyes at Zoro. "What _was_ that, Roronoa?" he asked menacingly.

"Ugh…I'll explain it later! So why don't we ask about Jango first!?" Zoro proposed the idea while sweating visibly.

Smoker was silent while gazing at Zoro in a scrutinizing glare before he sighed, giving in. "Fine, then. You can release Master. He's almost suffocated." Smoker said while pointing at Master whose face was almost blue because the lack of oxygen.

"Waaah, sorry!" Zoro immediately released the older man and apologized repeatedly.

"Okay… I won't say anything… about that again…." Master laughed while wheezing, trying to breathe normally again. Zoro laughed guiltily at that and Smoker only sighed at the sight in front of him.

"Then… what can I do to help you?" The master asked after he served a cup of hot coffee for Smoker and a cup of hot green tea for Zoro on the table counter. Both guests sat on the chairs in front of it.

"We're looking for this man." Smoker put the picture on the table to allow Master to see it.

"Ah, isn't this Jango? It's been awhile since I saw him." Master took the picture and looked at the man in it with a nostalgic look.

"It's been awhile?" Zoro asked in confusion. "Isn't he working here?"

"Yes. He _was_ our great dancer." Master nodded and put down the picture again to look at Zoro and Smoker. "He quit last month though." He added.

"Last month?" Smoker frowned at that.

"Yeah, some kind of family business, he said. Is there a problem? I hope he didn't do anything stupid worth your searching, Colonel." Master said in a concerned tone.

"No, we only want to ask a few things… regarding the incident on the bridge _last month_." Smoker said, emphasizing on the time. Zoro gulped a bit at that. It seemed it was deeper than he thought.

"The bridge…ah, about that serial killer's death huh?" Master remembered the news. "The news said he was killed, is that true?" he asked.

"That's true." Smoker answered seriously.

"Does it somehow involve Jango?" Master asked again.

"Well… he was his last victim. We wanted to know if he knew something after Kuro escaped from jail… at first," Smoker said as took the picture and looked at the face in it. "-but now I decide that he indeed know something, since he quit work the moment Kuro died." Smoker kept the picture back behind his white-silver jacket and took his cup to sip the coffee.

"It can be a coincidence." Zoro said slowly.

"It's worth checking out," Smoker said indifferently.

Several minutes later…

"Thank you for the treat, Master." Smoker said while shaking hand with Master.

"You're welcome. I hope you'll come more often with Miss Hina though." Master said while smiling daydreamingly.

"How come you're amazed by that iron woman…?" Smoker mumbled with a pale sickened look.

"What are you saying? She's a goddess." Master said with literal heart-shaped pupils in his eyes.

"Whatever," Smoker flailed his hand and turned his back at him. Zoro nodded at Master and followed Smoker out.

"So…where are we going now?" Zoro asked.

"We'll go to Jango's house." Smoker took out a piece of paper with letters on it. "I've already got the address from Master. We'll find him and ask many things about our dear Kuro." He continued with a confident smirk.

Zoro looked at Smoker secretly as they walked on the street. He wanted to ask something, but wasn't sure how to do it. Smoker seemed noticing the stare and looked at Zoro. "What?" he asked.

"Uh…there's something I want to ask." Zoro said slowly.

"Go ahead and ask." Smoker paid his attention back to the road.

"Why are you bringing me around?" Zoro asked then. "You can do this yourself, right… I mean with your sense of curiosity and all…."

Smoker was silent for a moment before he said, "You'll know when this is over." Smoker didn't look at Zoro and answered in such mysterious way it ticked Zoro off a bit. Still, when Zoro saw no sign of further answer from Smoker at all, he only sighed slightly disappointed.

When they arrived at a certain apartment complex, both guys stopped walking. Smoker peered at the address and at the sign of the apartment. The sign gave out big red letters read '_Sainjutsu._'

_Hypnotism?_—Zoro felt ridiculous at the name. _What kind of an idiot would name an apartment complex with such suspicious name like that?_

"It's here." Smoker said, nodding surely after checking the address. "Let's go." Then he entered the place, followed by Zoro again.

"This place looks abandoned," Zoro commented as he looked at his surroundings. The building was okay, but the paints were peeled out, and there were a lot of spider webs. The floors were dirty with pieces of dusts, soils and parts of the broken wall. "Does anyone really live here?" He doubted that…and he was quite bothered by an unpleasant smell as well. Someone must have forgotten to throw out the garbage.

Zoro covered his nose and his mouth. The smell got stronger as they walked deeper to the building. Smoker glanced at the green haired teen, but he didn't say anything at Zoro.

"There should be one or two people living here." Smoker said slowly after that.

As they came to a certain door with number 56, they stopped. "It's the room." Smoker said and Zoro nodded, still covering his nose and his mouth.

For some reason, the smell was the worst there. Zoro had a difficult time to breathe. He was amazed that Smoker wasn't affected by that horrible smell. It smelled just like rats' rotten body.

When Smoker was about to knock at the door, suddenly Zoro felt someone blew a breath on his neck. His hair stood immediately at the creepy feeling, and when he turned his face… he was greeted by a sight a woman, whose face was slashed open, revealing her raw facial flesh and some of her skull. Part of the flesh was rotten while the thick dark blood was still dripping.

Zoro hadn't even had a chance to freak out as the woman reached her hand at him and touched his chest.

In an instant Zoro saw a blinding light and when he opened his eyes again, he was in another place.

_What the hell—?!_

Zoro was utterly surprised, confused and obviously freaked out when he tried to move, he couldn't. "Humph…!" And when he tried to scream, his voice wouldn't come out. No, his voice was restrained. Something was on his mouth. Something was obviously _wrong_ here. Zoro really didn't understand with this situation.

_What the hell happened!?_—Zoro thought, bewildered. He had been standing in front of the door with Smoker just a moment before, how come he ended up in a different place just in an instant after…

Zoro paled when he remembered the horrible face of that woman. _Was it because of her?_—Zoro suspected that, but he had to do something with this situation first. Suspecting wouldn't do anything at all.

Looking around, Zoro realized he was in a dark room with red dizzying light above his eyes. It seemed he was laying on his back right then. He saw some interiors like a round coffee table and a chair, a big cupboard and a TV-set. He also saw a bed…he _was _on the bed, it seemed. In front of him, near the corner of the room was someone… actually two people talking in bussing voices. He couldn't really see their faces and hear them since it was dark and their position were quite far from his spot.

One of the people started raising his voice. He could tell it was a man from his heavy voice. Then the man began to walk nearing him. Zoro tried to move, but his hands were restraint above his head by something he couldn't see. He also couldn't move his legs. He squirmed there in a panicky as he saw a glint of pointed thing on the man's hand.

_This is a fucking joke…right…?_—Zoro thought, feeling a very-very big danger before him.

"_Stop it. She's got nothing to do with it."_ Zoro could hear the other man speak lowly.

"_Oh, she has… since she's the reason why you left me, right?"_ The man with pointed claw-like knifes spoke evilly as he neared Zoro and now was on top of him, staring at him like a predator.

_It's him!_—Zoro widened his eyes as he saw Kuro's face there. He started to sweat heavily as he saw Kuro raise his right hand with those claw-like knifes attached to it.

_No… no way! He'll kill me!—_Zoro was fully panicked now, trying so hard to release himself, trying to scream out even though the sound was muffled by the thing in his mouth.

"_I've got no grudge toward you, but you're in the way."_ Kuro said as he widened his evil smirk, eyes widened in dilated pupils, showing the intent to kill and something else Zoro couldn't comprehend.

_No… please don't—! Someone… HELP!_

"_Sayonara, bitch."_ Kuro then slashed Zoro's face and neck in a precise strike.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!" Zoro shouted hysterically and widened his eyes as if he had seen the death in front of his eyes.

"Zoro!" Smoker shouted and jerked Zoro's shoulder hard to bring him back to reality.

Zoro gasped and panted heavily, sweats and tears wetting his face while his trembling hands clutched Smoker's arms under his jacket painfully. His feet felt really weak, he would have collapsed without Smoker's support.

"Oi, are you alright?" Smoker asked in a worried look while letting Zoro sit on the floor and lean against the dirty peeled wall.

Zoro was still unable to respond to Smoker's words well. He was still frantically trying to distinguish the illusion and the reality. "Ki-killed…!" Zoro whimpered a bit, eyes still widened as he could still feel the sensation of his facial flesh and neck being ripped apart by the claw-like knifes.

"Zoro? Hey, wake up!" Smoker shook Zoro's shoulder harder to free the younger from the dream.

"I was…killed…!" Zoro released his hands from smoker and hugged his own body, trembling. He looked around and saw the woman still standing beside him, her almost transparent hand plunged deeply in his chest.

"_Help him…." _The woman, still with her horrible sickening appearance, whispered with her dry heavy buzzing voice, a chill wind blew at Zoro's ear.

Suddenly Zoro's stomach churned, his throat and lungs felt crushed painfully and he felt nauseous. "Uph…!" Zoro covered his mouth and closed his eyes with painful expression despite unable to breathe properly, trying hard not throw up.

Smoker looked at Zoro worriedly before he set his gaze at the woman. "You're torturing him. Let him go." Smoker said while glaring angrily. The woman merely glanced at him and didn't bulge. "Let go of him, or I'll remove your presence by force," Smoker threatened her now and once again intensified his glare to shock her.

She released her hand from Zoro and was slowly disappearing again. _"Help him…!" _Her desperate plea was heard by Zoro who was in the verge of puking and suffocating. When her presence was gone completely, finally Zoro could take air again to his lungs. He coughed and gasped for the last three times before he could breathe again normally. He looked really pale and weak.

"Zoro, oi, can you hear me?" Smoker knelt beside the younger boy and Zoro blearily looked back at Smoker.

"I was… killed…," Zoro said with hoarse voice.

"Yeah, _she _was killed," Smoker said while trying to help the boy. "Can you stand?"

"She was… that woman… that came to your house… last night," Zoro didn't ask, but he just made sure.

"Yes," Smoker said slowly, pulling Zoro's arm and helping the boy stand.

Zoro was still wobbling and needing Smoker support for some more times before he could finally stand again on his own feet. "What was that…? I saw… I meant… why did I experience her death?" Zoro asked, finally calming down now.

"That's called 'connection' by empathy," Smoker said. "She tried to talk to you by giving you her memory and experiences, by letting you know what she felt when she was dying." He explained more.

"Why me…?" Zoro gritted his teeth as he remembered the horrible things he experienced in the hospital. It was the same thing, though they were just dreams, not like this one. He was fully awake right now, right _then_ when she performed the connection. It made the ordeal worse. He really experienced the fear, the cold pointed knifes that slashes him, the taste of blood and iron as he was dying. It was horrible, too horrible.

Zoro had ever died once, but this fear was different from that time. It was as if…_he_ were _that woman_.

"Because you're the only one who can understand her," Smoker said slowly.

"Just because I can see her? You can also see her, right? Why didn't see talk to you instead?" Zoro asked again, not understanding it.

"I can't understand her." Smoker said, earning a confused look from Zoro. "I can see her, yes, but it's just that. Her voice doesn't reach me. I can't hear her." He continued while looking afar. His expression looked somehow…regretful.

"You can't hear…?" Zoro was still confused. "Does that have any to do with anything?"

"The one who can perform a 'connection' is the one with the ability to 'hear' and 'feel' them. I can't do those things, so I can only see them. They can't pass their message to me. Moreover… my body doesn't allow them to come near." Smoker explained further.

Zoro still hadn't understood. Okay, Smoker could see, but he couldn't hear? Why? And what's with the body that didn't allow those things to come closer? Zoro's head began to spin.

"I still don't get it…." Zoro said while clutching his head. Aside the nausea, now he got a headache as well.

"It's okay. You'll understand after I send you to the person who will help you to control that ability." Smoker tapped Zoro's back slightly and suddenly Zoro felt a lot better. He didn't feel nauseous again and somehow…the air began to feel refreshing.

"T-that's weird…," Zoro mumbled in confusion.

"It seems our Jango is not home." Smoker said as he pushed the door open. The room was dark and the furniture was in shambles. Then when Smoker went inside the room and turned on the light, Zoro widened his eyes seeing it.

"This room…!" Zoro felt a sudden familiarity at the sight. He looked around and pin-pointed some things inside. He walked and stood at a certain position, and then… he saw that view again, the view he had seen when he was in 'connection' with the woman.

"What's wrong?" Smoker asked.

"That woman…," Zoro looked at Smoker in a pale face. "She was killed here, in this room." He informed Smoker.

"What?" Smoker was really surprised hearing that.

"I saw this room when I was in 'connection' or whatever…. I saw that TV-set, and that cup board too before it fell over like that and… there were two people…men, talking… at the spot you're standing on right now." Zoro said, trying to remember as much as he could from the connection while also trying to forget the fear and the horror of being killed.

_That's awesome… that ability…—_Smoker was silently amazed at that. _But…—_Smoker only looked at Zoro pitifully when the boy shook his head, trying to shake off the horrible images.

"One of the men was Kuro," Zoro said. "He was the one who killed her." Zoro shivered when he remembered the man's eyes glaring at him with such…?

_Eh…?_—Zoro was slightly confused. He was sure he saw killing intent and hatred there, but… he also saw something else in his eyes. _Something…, what?_

"What about the other one?" Smoker asked slowly. "Can you remember?" Still, Smoker also didn't want to push the boy too much.

"Unh… I was so focused on Kuro when he killed me… so the other man…," Zoro tried his best to remember in that haze of terror, the face of the man other than Kuro.

_Long…curly brown hair…? Heart-shaped…!?_—Zoro widened his eyes. "It's Jango…!" Zoro widened his eyes in disbelief.

"It's Jango!?" Smoker was shocked now. "Wait, so you said Jango was here when that woman was killed by Kuro?"

Smoker didn't believe this. If that was really the case then… the one who helped Kuro escape from prison and hide him all those time was…

_Kuro's own last victim…!?_

"What does this mean?" Zoro looked at Smoker in a confused look.

"I don't understand…." Smoker thought hard, trying to connect the puzzles, but he felt that there were still some parts missing. "Let's find Jango first. I am sure he's hiding somewhere near." Smoker said while walking out the room.

Zoro followed closely behind him. When he was outside the room, once again he saw that woman and she looked at Zoro with sad eyes even though part of them had been shattered and destroyed. Zoro gulped at seeing her and then remembered her words.

"_Help him…."

* * *

_

**End of Chapter 3**

**Tbc…**

**A/N: **The mystery thickens~! Wohooo, can Zoro and Smoker find the missing puzzles? Why does it turn out to be mystery rather than horror? Well, I said this is a horror-drama-mystery, so I guess this is okay… Smoker is a bit mysterious too. Umm, the answers of those questions hopefully will be revealed in next chapter! Stay tuned, folks! Oh, and don't forget the feed backs! I love a lot of long reviews! XDD

With Love,

Lunaryu~~~


	4. Grudge Part 2

**A/N:** Yes, it's a right time to update… though; my next block had already begun T_T. Forgive me if I have to make you wait for quite long time. At least I can finish this. Hahaha, it took me a week to write this down right. Anyway, this is chapter 4 for The Connector. Enjoy~

**Disclaimer: Odachi owns everything in One Piece ^__^ Luna only borrow them for playing**

**Warning:** _pretty much the same stuffs as the previous ones, oh and there's also a mention of boy x boy in this chapter. Be ware… just in case.

* * *

_

**The Connector**

**Chapter 4: **_**Grudge (Part 2)**_

_Look at me…_

_Don't look at anyone else…_

_I am right here aren't I?_

_Why are you looking at another person?_

_Hey… look at me…_

_Your eyes… I want them to look only at me…_

**ZORO—RORONOA—ZORO**

Zoro glanced over his shoulder behind. He was making sure that _that woman_ didn't follow him when he was walking out of the building with Smoker beside him.

"What are you looking at?" Smoker raised his eyebrows as he noticed Zoro's odd act.

"Eeh, just making sure we don't have any tail," the young Roronoa turned his face, showing his uneven expression to Smoker and the older man rolled his eyes at him.

"She won't follow us," Smoker said.

"You don't know that," Zoro said, defending his precaution.

"No, she won't. She already passed her message to you. She won't bother you anymore," Smoker was pretty sure of that.

"She wants me to do something," Zoro said, catching Smoker attention. "She wants me to help _him_."

"Who?" The colonel asked him, wondering.

"_Him_," Zoro repeated.

"Who the hell is _him_?" Smoker furrowed at that.

"I don't know, okay? She didn't mention any name, only 'him.' How should I know?" Zoro said, making a comical annoyed look with a bead of sweat on his right cheek.

"That's… odd," Smoker said putting his hand on his chin, thinking with wrinkled brow.

"Well, sorry for being _weird_. It's not like I want to have this ability," Zoro unintentionally snapped, pretty irritated.

"I didn't mean 'you' being odd…-" Smoker wanted to protest, but stopped as he raised his face, seeing Zoro's sour look. He sighed in apologetic expression. "Must be hard, huh?"

Zoro didn't reply that question, only looked away from him. Well, Smoker didn't really understand since he couldn't do anything fancy like Zoro did with those beings. Still, the cop was sure it wasn't easy. Zoro was still insanely new to this ability. He thought it was amazing enough that he wanted to try understanding that newly found power instead of going nuts with the entire hazardous world he didn't know before.

_This kid has monstrous psychological strength, huh?_—Smoker thought deeply.

"Then what's odd?" Zoro turned his face again at Smoker, asking.

_And he actually cares about that…_—Smoker honestly wanted to chuckle, but he coughed a little instead, to hide his amusement.

"The fact that she wanted you to help someone," Smoker said. "She was the girl who got killed in that apartment. If she wanted something from you, shouldn't it be something more… you know, selfish? Like catching her killer—" Zoro made a face at that and Smoker realized, shrugging "-well, Kuro is dead… or giving farewell message for her family or something in those lines," he continued.

"Should be, but not always," Zoro paused a bit before speaking again while looking afar. "When I first realized I could see things… I thought they're just the same as us," he began slowly. "There was this woman who insisted talking with me even though I didn't like her appearance one bit. She invaded my dream and showed me how she died to catch my attention… and she only wanted me to help his son who's dying in his room." Zoro's voice was completely even when he spoke and Smoker listened to him carefully. "I think… it's the same as this time," he said, now looking at Smoker with his deep dark jade eyes.

"You mean her family was in danger or something?" Smoker asked seriously.

"Could be, I don't know. It can be anyone since she only mentioned _him_," Zoro grunted and rubbed the back of his neck, feeling a sudden uneasiness. "I wished she could be more _transparent_," he sighed.

"Did that _woman_ give you a transparent message?" Smoker asked again.

There was a brief silence before Zoro sighed again, longer now. "No," he replied, groaning slightly.

"That's the way they communicate. They only use hints, codes, signs, anything. I don't know if that's the rule or something… but they can't speak directly," Smoker explained.

"That's weird…," Zoro commented.

"It is," Smoker agreed.

"No, I mean you being weird. You know so many things about them despite only being able to _see_," Zoro said again with deadpanned expression.

There was silence again before Smoker said "Is that a pay back from before?" He couldn't believe the boy was holding a grudge.

"Just your imagination," Zoro said again with flat tone, but he was looking away again.

Smoker could have sworn the boy looked smug just now. The suspicion only increased when he looked away. The cop sighed and mumbled something like 'Kids and their temper' or something like that.

"So, what are we going to do?" Smoker asked a few moments later.

"Shouldn't we stick to the plan?" Zoro suggested. Smoker raised his eyebrows again, demanding his explanation for that. "I mean…, she was killed inside Jango's apartment, right? It's just speculation… wasn't she short of related to Jango? She might be his girlfriend or his sister or something," the green haired boy explained.

"Good reason, it makes sense even," Smoker said, considering it. "Okay, then we shall just follow the first plan. Find Jango and we'll know something," Smoker walked faster. Zoro followed him from behind.

"How should we find him?" the boy asked.

"Jango must have had some friends when he was still working in Kuroneko Bar. Master should know if there's someone we can contact," Smoker answered and Zoro nodded slightly in understanding.

**ZORO—RORONOA—ZORO**

"So… where are we, again?" Zoro stared outside the window of a taxi that brought Smoker and him to a quite remote area in the neighbor town.

"This area is in Hina's jurisdiction…." Smoker mumbled lowly while making an annoyed expression. "Why hasn't she said anything? Does she even know?"

"Who?" Zoro turned his face at Smoker, a bit confused.

"No, I am talking to myself," Smoker said, dismissing Zoro's curiosity.

"Then… how can we find this Fu… who is it again…?" Zoro trailed off while trying to remember the name.

"It's _Full Body_," Smoker helped while looking at another paper he got from Master.

"Yeah that… what an _interesting_ name," Zoro made a ridiculous expression thinking about that name.

"It's not his real name. That's how he's called in the club," Smoker said again after talking to the driver to bring him and Zoro to the address on the paper.

"What club?" Zoro asked further, quite intrigued.

"It's a dancing club. He and Jango go to the same club and they're best friends," the silver haired man said while leaning against the jock.

"Then he might be there." Zoro nodded slightly, agreeing, and the taxi drove them to their destination in steady speed.

Arriving in front of European styled house, Smoker and Zoro got off the taxi. Smoker paid for the fee and now they stood before large double wooden doors. Smoker reached for the handle-like -lion shaped- decoration and knocked it at the door, making nice thumping noises that echoed inside.

"A western styled house?" Zoro felt strange at the view in front of him. It was quite rare to have that kind building there. Usually, houses in remote area were built traditionally.

_Does the owner of this house wants to show something?_—Zoro thought silently, but then he felt a bit ridiculous for caring about something like that.

"It seems _Full Body_ is a bit eccentric," Smoker stared at the lion shaped handle with a flat stare. Zoro couldn't really read his expression, though. He looked serious.

They waited for at least three minutes before someone opened the door. A woman with long wavy pinkish hair greeted them. "Can I help you?"

"Is this Mr. Full Body's house? I am Detective Smoker," Smoker showed his ID and the woman immediately looked at it to confirm it. She nodded slightly, approving. "I am looking for Mr. Full Body if he's present," Smoker put his ID card back inside his pocket.

"Yes, my brother is home," the lady said as she opened the door more widely. "Please come in." She then gestured for Smoker to come inside the house.

"Pardon our intrusion," Smoker said as he entered the beautiful house, Zoro following closely behind him.

"And this is…?" the lady looked at Zoro now.

"Ah, I am Roronoa Zoro," Zoro nodded slightly at her.

"He's my assistant," Smoker continued slightly, backing him up.

"Okay," the lady winked strangely at Zoro and suddenly he felt cold for some reasons. He had to rub the back of his neck a bit. "Please wait for a moment. I'll call my brother down," she said after letting Smoker and Zoro sit on the sofa in the guest's room.

"Man, that lady creeps me out a bit," Zoro muttered slowly through his teeth, but it seemed Smoker heard that and decided to tease him.

"Oh, you're afraid of woman, kid?" he asked, raising his eyebrows as if he were surprised. Zoro knew right away that it was a sham because he could see the glint of amusement in his eyes.

"Shut up. It's not like that," Zoro wanted to step on Smoker's foot, but he failed because Smoker decided to be an _esper_ (1) and dodged the attack before it hit him. Zoro narrowed his eyes at Smoker and vice-versa.

"You're too fast 100 years to do that to me, kid," Smoker said, smirking a bit.

"Don't call me _kid_!" Zoro was pissed off now. The green haired boy was about to yell again as the door of the living room was suddenly opened, stealing Smoker and Zoro attention right away from their little argument.

"Oh, Detective," a man with the same hair color as the lady before- entered the room. He wore full formal white suits with a red tie and there was like an iron colored glove covering his right hand. He was quite handsome with over-confident expression. Well, Zoro didn't really like over-confident type, but it didn't mean he would hate him the moment he saw him, right?

Smoker stood up and so did Zoro. "Mr. Full Body," Smoker offered his hand and Full Body accepted it happily.

"Please, Full Body is fine, Detective Smoker," Full Body said as he acceded them to sit again before he also sat down on the sofa across Smoker.

"Okay, Full Body," Smoker nodded. "We're here because we have something to ask you."

"And what might it be?" Full Body looked intrigued.

"We heard you knew someone named Jango…"

As Smoker and Full Body were engaged in conversation, Zoro took his time to look around. He didn't know what he was trying to look for. He just sort of did that without even thinking. He found something really interesting on the table at the corner of the room. It was a book, an old-looking one with black leather cover. It wasn't physically interesting. He just felt it was. Something about the book interested him, but he didn't know why he thought that way. He felt something familiar with the book, though…

"…he's here," Full Body's voice interrupted Zoro's thought and he looked back at Smoker and Full Body, concentrating on their conversation once more.

"Who is here?" Zoro asked aloud without realizing it.

Smoker made a face at him, clearly accusing him for daydreaming. "_Jango_ is here," he said, emphasizing on the name part.

"Oh," Zoro nodded, trying to hide his embarrassment for not paying enough attention.

"But right now, he's not capable on speaking rightly, I am afraid," Full Body said suddenly with disappointed look.

"Why is that?" Smoker asked curiously.

"You see… he's been strange since last month," Full Body sighed with troubled look. "He kept saying illogical things, like… he was haunted by a ghost or something stupid like that."

Smoker and Zoro widened their eyes in surprise hearing that. They looked at each other slightly before they nodded in silence. "Let me speak to him," Smoker insisted.

"Is that okay? He can fall in hysteria sometimes," Full Body looked a bit anxious.

"Don't worry. We only want to ask some… small things," Smoker said thoughtfully with understanding and reassuring tone.

"Okay," Full Body stood. "I will bring you to him. Please follow me, Detective and…," Full Body turned his face at Zoro, realizing that he hadn't been introduced to the detective's partner.

"Roronoa Zoro," Zoro stood and nodded at him.

"Yes, Roronoa-san," he smiled.

After that, Full Body led them inside the house to the room where Jango was resting. They went upstairs and turned left at the second floor, entering a corridor. There were some doors on the corridor both sides. Full Body kept silent as he led the way until he stopped at the fourth door on the right side.

"This is Jango's room," Full Body said. Smoker and Zoro nodded. "I'll try calling him, but please forgive him if he doesn't want to come out. He's being difficult to everyone lately," he said.

"Did he ever tell you anything about the _ghost_ that's been haunting him?" Smoker asked evenly.

Full body looked at him as if he had grown a second head. "Ex-excuse me?" he stuttered a bit, seeming not believing his hearing just now.

Smoker sighed. "He might have suffered schizophrenia if you want to know why I am asking like this," he said, completely apathy from the outside.

_Smoker is so good in hiding his own emotion—_Zoro couldn't help thinking, slightly awed at the cop's coolness.

"Oh, yeah, of course," Full Body laughed slightly, feeling awkward. "Um… yeah, I thought like that at first and I introduced him to a psychiatrist. The doctor also had given him medication. Still, somehow, it didn't work well."

_Of course it won't work. It's not a sickness—_Zoro thought, sweat dropping. He also had that experience after all.

"So, did he tell you anything?" Smoker repeated his question.

"Um… well, he had ever said something like… someone was standing at the end of his bed and sometimes his things would change places without him knowing it or things like that, if that's what you mean…," Full Body tried to remember what his friend had told him before. "But that can't be, right? I mean… there's no ghost," and then he laughed sheepishly.

Zoro narrowed his eyes at Full Body slightly. The guy just couldn't see. It didn't mean they didn't exist. Smoker seemed notice the displeasure in Zoro's face and nudged his ribs lightly. Zoro turned his face at Smoker and the cop shook his head slightly. The green haired boy huffed and looked at another way.

"I'll call him then," Full Body informed and knocked lightly at Jango's door three times. "Jango, it's me. You have guests," he called, a bit more loudly.

There was movement inside and a low grunt, a rustling sound and a click before the door opened slightly. Someone peeked from the narrow space.

"Jango, it's me," Smoker said, showing his face at the guy and he widened his eyes slightly.

"Detective!" Jango opened his door room widely and stepped outside in a grateful look.

"It's been awhile, Jango. How have you been?" Smoker asked while offering his hand.

"Ah… I am so glad that you look for me. Lately many things happened and…," Jango's face paled visibly. "I… I know why you're here," he stuttered as he looked at Smoker, slightly afraid. "Is this something about Kuro-san?"

"So you _saw_ him, huh?" Smoker asked while making a face as if he had known that. Zoro gulped slightly.

"No, why would I see him?" Jango asked, making a face. "That guy wanted to kill me back then!"

"Huh?" Now Smoker and Zoro looked dumbfounded. "Wait a—, then whom did you see? Full Body told me you've been haunted."

Jango widened his eyes at that. Then he made a screwed face and glared at his friend who looked at another way now. He sighed slightly and bit his lower lip. "It… it's my ex-girlfriend," he spoke quietly in hesitant voice.

"Ex—, did she have long brown hair?" Zoro asked suddenly, butting in with curiosity.

"How did you know that?" Jango threw his gaze at Zoro now. "Who the hell are you?" he asked, frowning.

"I am Detective Smoker's partner," Zoro said bluntly, and before Jango could comment how young he was, Zoro spoke more with a serious tone. "She was the one who was killed in your apartment, wasn't she?"

Jango paled visibly at that.

"Zoro!" Smoker shouted at Zoro loudly, startling the boy.

"What the—!" Full Body made a shocked face he heard what Zoro had said. "What do you mean she was killed_ inside his apartment_!? What is this all about!?"

"Eh… um…-" Zoro tried to explain, but failed to make any words. Smoker made an expression that they were in deep shit. The cop covered his forehead at that.

"You and your big mouth," Smoker pinched Zoro's arm and the boy yelped painfully.

"It's based on our last investigation," Smoker said. "You familiar with a serial killer named Kuro Kurahadol?" Smoker asked slightly, trying to regain control of the situation.

"I know him. But what is it all about? What does it have any to do with Jango's ex's death?" Full Body demanded an explanation.

"Okay, do you know that Kuro is dead?" Smoker asked again.

"I know. It was on the news. The bastard was killed, I heard. He deserved that," Full Body huffed slightly.

"Yes, but during his escape, he already killed two more people. One of them was…," Smoker stopped slightly ad glanced at Jango's very pale frightened face.

Full Body seemed noticing the hesitation and widened his eyes as he understood, apparently. "It was her…? Reona?" he whispered in disbelief. "But…, but the news said…!" Full Body now looked baffled. "I thought she died in accident!"

_So her name is Reona…_—Zoro took a note.

Smoker nodded slightly.

_He knows and he doesn't tell me anything… that shitty cop!—_Zoro narrowed his eyes at Smoker, annoyed.

"I… I couldn't save her…!" Jango whimpered as he covered his face, earning an immediate attention from everyone around him. "She was killed and I couldn't even do a damn thing to help her! I… it's perfectly normal if she had a grudge on me! I failed her and couldn't protect her! I let her die!"

Just like Full Body said earlier, the guy fell into hysteria. He screamed and cried painfully as if he could still freshly see the horrible event. Zoro felt sympathy as he saw the breakdown.

_I see…, so that's why that woman asked me to help him…. She didn't want him to blame himself over her death…—_ Zoro closed his eyes as he heard the cry and the sobs from Jango, while Full Body and Smoker were trying to calm him down. _But I can't do anything for something like this. It's not my expertise. Only a psychiatrist can help him through the depression…._

However then, suddenly Zoro felt a chill running on his back. He immediately looked behind. He only saw a blur of a person, or he thought it _was_ a person, moving fast at the end of the corridor. He couldn't really tell who that was just now, though he remembered the color of the blur. He could have sworn he saw Full Body's sister dress.

Not enough with that, now Zoro felt ominous as well in his core. _What is it…?_—He also felt a strange coldness. He felt something… wrong. He couldn't really tell what was wrong, but he was sure something was definitely not right. His uneasiness grew stronger so suddenly it felt really uncomfortable.

_What is… this feeling?_

**ZORO—RORONOA—ZORO**

"So… what should we do? We can't really speak to Jango if he's like that," Zoro commented, scratching his head slightly.

"Indeed," Smoker replied slowly as he gazed at Jango who was sitting on his bed, expressionless now. Smoker frowned a bit. The guy was having mental break down, it seemed. He wouldn't be able to help even though they brought him to see Kuro right now.

"I am very sorry for this, Detective Smoker," Full Body said after he finished encouraging Jango who seemed ignoring him. Well, he couldn't react properly anyway. "I think Jango will not be able to help you with anything as he's like this. Oh, and I'd like to have more words about this case. Reona was my best friend too. I can't believe she was killed like that… and in front of Jango to top it all." The man looked really worried as he looked back at his friend. "He's such a cheery person before…."

"I understand," Smoker nodded. "I'll tell you everything." Smoker noticed that Zoro looked at him intently as he said the last part. "Excuse me," Smoker then approached the green haired boy. "Don't worry. I won't speak about the ghost part again," he whispered near Zoro's ear and the boy nodded, exhaling slightly even though his face was still serious.

"Can we go to another room? I prefer Jango not hearing it while we're speaking," Full Body said then. "I am afraid he can't handle it."

"That's thoughtful," Smoker nodded in agreement.

Then the three guys left Jango's room and once again were back inside the guest's room. The atmosphere was quite heavy now.

"So… Reona was killed in Jango's apartment?" Full Body asked, making sure that he heard right.

"Yes. The body was found a bit far from the crime scene, but as we investigated more, we found evidence inside Jango's apartment that proved that she was indeed killed there," Smoker explained clearly. Well, it wasn't entirely true since there was no _concrete _evidence, but it wasn't a lie as well because Zoro _proved_ it with his ability. Still, Full Body didn't need to know that. "That's why we're looking for Jango. I intended to ask slowly… but this brat had just run his big mouth and scared Jango." Now Smoker glared at Zoro and the boy quickly looked away. It seemed the he was feeling guilty.

"Is that Kuro's doing too?" Full Body asked while gritting his teeth a bit, anger flashing in his eyes.

"I am afraid, it was." Smoker spoke again.

"Jango never told me anything about it…! He should have just run and moved when Kuro escaped," Full Body frowned deeply.

"That's the strange part," Smoker said. "When Kuro escaped, he got assisted by someone who hid him, and we hadn't known who it was. Kuro escaped two months ago and last month he was killed by the person, _we assume_, who had helped him. If Reona was killed inside Jango's apartment…." Smoker hesitated a bit.

"Oh, no…, please don't say you suspect Jango did that." Full Body shook his head at that warily, realizing that Jango might become a suspect in Smoker's head.

_We'll get a perfect reaction if we can bring Jango to Kuro's spirit. If Kuro reacts… then Jango really was the one who killed him. Did Jango do that to get revenge because his girlfriend was murdered? Then… why did he help Kuro in the first place? He was about to get killed before… who would want to help someone who had tried to harm himself anyway?_—Smoker was in deep thought. It didn't make any sense at all.

"De-Detective Smoker?"

Upon hearing Full Body's unsure voice, Smoker snapped back from his train of thought. "Oh, sorry… I am just thinking something," Smoker coughed a bit and responded to his earlier question. "I also don't want to believe it, but right now everything can become a possibility and that's just one of the others. I am only doing my job and I need Jango's assistance to get more clues."

"I- I see…," Full Body bit his lower lip.

Smoker then looked at Zoro. The green haired boy was quiet the whole time. He wondered what Zoro was thinking right now.

"Well, it's not as if I could just drag Jango to police station and interrogate him with his condition. I'll just leave for now, but I will come back to ask some question another time," Smoker stood up. "Until then, can I leave him in your care, Full Body?" he asked.

"Yes, of course," Full Body also stood. So did Zoro, still quiet. "I'll inform you if he says something regarding the case," the gentle man promised Smoker as he led the cop and Zoro to the front door.

On the way, they bumped into Full Body's sister who brought them a tray of hot cups of tea and a plate of cookies. "Oh, already leaving? You should drink your tea first," she offered.

"No, thank you. We're kind of in rush," Smoker declined politely and Zoro only nodded at her as they got out of the house. "We're excuse ourselves."

After biding a good bye to Full Body and his sister, both Smoker and Zoro walked out the residence to the road. They walked in silence. Smoker wondered why Zoro still hadn't said anything. _Did I blame him too much?_—Smoker thought, feeling weird. He thought Zoro wasn't the type to get emotionally wounded by words.

"Smoker," Zoro suddenly called him and the cop was a bit taken aback since he just thought about the kid being so quiet all of sudden.

"What?" Smoker asked, masking his surprise expertly by only raising one of his eyebrows.

Zoro opened his mouth, but then he looked hesitating for a moment before he whispered, "Don't you feel strange?"

Smoker looked at Zoro oddly. "What is?"

"You don't realize it?" Zoro mumbled quickly, made a frustrated sound before he suddenly looked up again at him. "I have to _talk_ to Kuro," he said suddenly.

"Wait a minute. Don't just—,"

"But I have to! Right away!" the boy cut him hard. "There's something really bothering me, but I don't have any proof yet if it's true or not! I need to talk to Kuro to be sure!"

The green haired boy looked at Smoker eyes so earnestly. Smoker was completely stunned. "Okay…," he said slowly. He might not know what Zoro was thinking, but if he thought it could solve the mystery, he wasn't about to protest. "But, we have to get back to my house first," Smoker said again. "We need a bit preparation."

Zoro nodded at that and once again, they stopped a taxi and got on to go back to Smoker house.

**ZORO—RORONOA—ZORO**

By the time they arrived in front of Smoker's house, the sun had already set and the sky had already been dark. Zoro and Smoker quickly got off the taxi. This time, Smoker told the driver to wait for them before he and Zoro went inside the house.

"What do we need to bring?" Zoro asked as he entered the living room.

"Just stay here. I'll get everything covered," Smoker said as he went to the dining room and to his bed room.

Zoro sat on the chair, waiting for the older man patiently. Well, not really patiently since he was tapping his right foot on the floor. Several minutes later, Smoker was back in living the room, not really bringing anything.

Zoro looked at him and blinked. "Where's the preparation?" he asked a bit comically.

"I told you, I already got it covered. Now let's go," the older man said as he walked to the front door again.

Zoro stood and hurriedly followed him while wondering 'what the hell?' They got on the taxi again and Smoker had the driver drive them to the bridge.

Arriving at the road near the bridge, Smoker threw a couple of thousands yen at the driver and hurriedly got off. Zoro still followed closely behind him. They walked nearing the bridge silently, but immediately, both Zoro and Smoker felt something ominous.

"What…?" Zoro was a bit taken aback and stopped walking. He began to shiver as strange cold wind started to gust around him. "What… is this…?" Then the boy also began to hear something.

_Clang… clang… clang…_

It was the sound of metals clanging together. As an addition, he also heard the sound of shrieking-like friction between metals.

"Crap…," Smoker whispered slightly in frowned brows, face slightly paling.

"What's wrong, Smoker?" Zoro turned his face to the cop in a concerned expression.

"Look at that," Smoker raised his hand and pointed at the bridge direction, not releasing his eyes from the source of his attention.

Zoro followed Smoker's finger and widened his eyes as he saw what Smoker saw. It was Kuro… but something was really-_really_ wrong with this Kuro. He wasn't quiet and calm like the previous night. This Kuro… looked really murderous. He walked, _yes_, he walked like a human being on the bridge, from the end of the bridge to the other end; and he repeated the action while clanging and chafing something… claw-like thing on his hand to the railings of the bridge.

"What… the HELL—!" Zoro couldn't help widening his eyes even more seeing that. He had never… seen something like this before. It was hundred times weirder than the other things Zoro had ever seen. "I thought he's a ghost! He should be like a… a _Casper_! He walks through things! How can he even bring a weapon!?" This was completely ridiculous.

"Look closely," Smoker said more calmly, but Zoro didn't miss the fear in his voice. "The weapon…, that's not a tool."

Zoro narrowed his eyes and focused his sight at the thing on Kuro's hand. Then he gasped as he realized what it was. Just like Smoker said, the claw-like weapon wasn't a tool. They _were_ Kuro's claws. "H-his hand…!" A shiver was running down Zoro's spine as he saw Kuro's literal purple-almost black-hand. It was no longer human-shaped hand.

"Shit… I didn't notice that he was that angry," Smoker said again. To Zoro, honestly, the cop looked a bit panicked.

"What is it!? What's wrong with him!?" However, since Zoro was already in a panicky now, he couldn't really comment on Smoker. Sure, he had seen a lot of things with a lot of _inhuman_ shapes; he meant by losing head or losing arms or legs or other organs, but seeing that hand… it was the first time he had seen something like that. Moreover, the bloodcurdling feeling that _thing_ emitted had somehow affected Zoro again. Even worse than the nausea and headache, it gave Zoro a feeling of a hopeless victim. Zoro knew Kuro desired for blood. He could feel it really clearly.

"_Hh… hate… detest…."_

Shit. Zoro even could hear his dry rasping breath and voice. _Hey, is he even still breathing!?_—Zoro brain had begun to get freezing again. He couldn't really help it. The dry voice made whole his body hair stand!

"_Want to kill…! Kill…! Loath…!" _

Zoro shut his eyes and hugged his body as he felt the hatred and intent to kill so vividly. "Shit…!" He tried desperately not to let his body begin to trembling. He couldn't be afraid now. He was about to speak to him. He had to know the truth!

"Kuro!" Zoro ran on the nearest end of the bridge and shouted at Kuro.

"Stupid—! What are you doing!?" Smoker ran after the boy and yanked his shoulder hard to stop him, but Zoro was resolved to talk, and ignored him, even the painful treatment.

"You don't belong to this world anymore! Tell me your message and pass on already!" Zoro shouted again.

Kuro only turned his face at him for a moment before he widened his eyes in a very evil smirk. _"Kill…!"_ Suddenly the monster leaped, nearing Zoro in inhuman speed that Zoro was shocked, not even having a chance to react as the claws made their way to his head.

_Crap!_—Zoro had been ready to receive the blow when suddenly Smoker pulled him back and clashed the claws with his bare arm.

A. Fucking. Bare. Arm.

Zoro could only bulge his eyes as he saw something transparent coating the said arm, completely repelled the attack and even clashed it back as the claws collided with it. Kuro was sent back some meters—he didn't have time to count because he was so busy staring— and shrieked painfully, as if he were burning.

"Are you an idiot!?" Smoker's roar woke Zoro up from his speechless, fascinated self. Zoro blinked and he saw a very pissed off expression on Smoker's face. "You can't just shout at the evil spirit like that! He could kill you!" The cop yelled more heatedly.

"Huh? Eh… but I have to talk to him…," Zoro tried to reason. "And beside, I didn't know he could do something like that! Why can he touch things!? Ghost can't touch any concrete material, right!?" he began to ask and protest again, completely confused.

Smoker frowned deeply again and sighed long. "He's no longer a spirit," he said. Zoro maded a 'huh?' face as he heard that. "He has reached his limit. He's turning into _Ayakashi _(2)_._"

By the time he heard the word, he looked at Smoker as if the guy had been an alien from planet Mars. "Excuse me?" He suddenly felt that he had been thrown into outer space.

"Forget it." Smoker rolled his eyes. "You still haven't studied about them yet, so you won't understand. But as Kuro is like this… you can't talk to him. Not anymore." Smoker made a very serious face as he stared at the recoveringKuro in front of them.

"What does that mean?" Zoro was in desperate need of explanation in practically everything! He couldn't understand Smoker's words at all.

"It means I am telling you to shut up! We can't stay here! He can attack again!" Smoker was already angry now.

"But I have to talk to him! I need to know if it's true!" Zoro still insisted.

"What are you talking about!?" Smoker was really confused now.

"Didn't you realize!? It's about Full Body being an accomplice of the murder!" Smoker widened his eyes in a shock at Zoro's outburst. "He said it himself… when we're at his house. After he calmed Jango down…-"

"_... I can't believe she was killed like that… and in front of Jango to top it all."_

Smoker widened his eyes even more that they might fall out of their sockets if he didn't stop as he remembered the line. "You're right… We had never mentioned that Jango was present when the girl was killed. How did he know…?"

"That's simple. He was there." Zoro said seriously. "When Reona was killed… he was there, behind the bed, a place where I—_Reona_— couldn't see."

"But something like that… without proof…," Smoker frowned again.

"That's why I need to talk to Jango. If I can see and feel his _experience_… we might know everything. I can even look for any proof when I am at it," Zoro ensured Smoker.

Smoker was hesitant. "He still could kill you."

"I don't have to be _clawed_ to do the connection. As long as I can touch him… just a little bit is fine." Zoro spoke again.

"You'll suffer the impact again, even harder. The intensity of his hatred right now was hundred times heavier than his yesterday!" Smoker warned.

"Heh, don't underestimate my mental strength. I am an opponent that Dracule Mihawk 'The Hawk Eye' has taken notice, you know," Zoro smirked confidently at that. Well, even though he still couldn't even scratch the guy, but that was another matter.

Smoker narrowed his eyes at Zoro. "You owe me an explanation for _that_," he reminded, and Zoro made a 'Crap!' look. The cop chuckled slightly and nodded. "Okay. Just… don't overdo it," he said.

"Yes," Zoro then faced the Kuro once again.

"Zoro," Smoker called again. Zoro turned his face to him slightly as he saw Smoker threw something long at him. Zoro readily caught it and gasped as he saw his prized sword _Wadou Ichi Monji_. He looked at Smoker perplexedly.

"I brought it just in case. Use it. It has a little _haki_. It can repel that _thing_ for a moment. Use the moment to touch or connect. You're safer that way." Smoker explained briefly.

"I don't really understand, but thanks. It's easier if I have something to hold onto," Zoro smirked as he unsheathed the beautiful sword and performed an _It_ō_ryū_ (3) style. Zoro then narrowed his eyes at the thing in front of him. He didn't know if he could slay this thing or not with his sword, but he didn't need to harm him. He only needed to stop its movement so he could touch him.

For some reasons, Zoro didn't really feel the nauseating sensation as he was concentrating on his sword. He bent his body a little and held his sword horizontally above the shoulder of his arm. Then he waited. He waited for the thing to attack him first before he would stop him.

_I can't really cut him anyway; if that's the case… then this technique might do well._

As Kuro finally recovered, he blindly attacked Zoro again with the claws, intending to hurt him. He looked so angry yet so hurt at the same time. Zoro felt the pain as Kuro neared him again.

_Just a bit more…. Come closer…_

As Kuro was almost a meter in front of him, finally Zoro made a move. He performed a circular swing that launched something like air-compressed projectile-attack at Kuro and slammed the thing so strongly that he halted moving at all.

_NOW!_—Zoro ran at the thing, ignoring the tingling-biting dark air around him, and then reached his hand that didn't hold any sword at Kuro's chest. As he touched him, dozens of feelings attacked him at the same time. Zoro was so shocked at the intensity he screamed.

"AAAAAH!"

The green haired boy shut his eyes as he was drowned inside the painful darkness. Then, when he realized it, he was there. Once again, inside Jango's apartment, but now he wasn't that girl. He was Kuro. He saw his bloodstained hands and white bed-sheet that was slowly turning crimson, the horrible corpse of that girl under him and a black leather-covered book beside her slashed head. He didn't feel anything. Nothing… it was just the coldness and the emptiness.

"_Well done."_ He heard someone spoke in front of him and he saw him. Full Body smirked at him, crossing his arms on his chest. _"You're not becoming rusty at all even after in the prison for two years."_

"_He's a perfect killing machine." _Another one spoke, but now it was a girl's voice. _"Jango must be proud of you so much, huh, Kuro?_" Full Body's sister's wicked expression entered his eyesight and he felt like laughing so suddenly.

"_I told you she's got nothing to do with it."_ He heard Jango spoke behind him, muttering while sighing. He looked back at the man and smirked uncontrollably. Jango approached him slowly and put his arms around him. _"Well, that's the Kuro I love, though." _Jango's voice seemed amused.

Zoro shut his eyes as his consciousness was pulled again by the darkness and when he opened his eyes, now he was inside a white room. He could see a mirror in front of him and he saw Jango there. _"You'll do anything for me, right, Kuro?"_ Jango smiled at him and he began to feel something.

Another pulling and he was brought away again. One more opening eyes again and he saw a living room with two children and a woman. Jango was there as well, smiling at his family and he realized the feeling… It was…

_Love…_

"_I love you, Kuro…"_

"_They're in the way. Can you get rid of them for me?"_

"_I want to see blood… Hey, Kuro… you'll get it for me, right?"_

Zoro's head began to hurt so much by the time he saw those murders. Jango's voice haunted him more and more he wanted to explode. "It's enough…! I can't do it anymore…! ENOUGH!"

"_I don't need you anymore. Sayonara, Kuro."_ He could see Jango's smile on that bridge before he saw red and then he screamed hysterically.

By the time Zoro was pulled back out of that bizarre world inside Kuro's memory, Zoro fell on his knees and vomited hard on the bridge.

"Zoro!" Smoker tried to ease the pain Zoro endured. He stroked his back as he looked very worried.

Zoro gasped for an air as he was recovering from the vomiting attack. His throat was burning because of the gastric acid. He coughed and panted heavily; sweats drenched his whole body. His face was really pale and he didn't even realize he still gripped the hilt of his sword very hard until his fingers turned white for not enough getting circulation. He still need some more times before he could speak again.

While trying to calm himself down, Zoro gave a sad painful look at Kuro who now was standing again, looking at Zoro emptily while bloody tears dripping from his eyes. Zoro closed his eyes and spoke with a raspy voice. "I am sorry…." It was the first time he felt so sad, so painfully sad since Kuina's death. Zoro could feel what Kuro felt. His love… his blind feeling… the heart wrenching betrayal….

_The grudge…_

Kuro seemed not listening as he raised his claws and intended to attack again as his hand was caught by someone… _something._ Zoro widened his eyes as he saw the long brown hair and the dress. It was Reona. She hugged the hand gently and was in tears. Kuro didn't seem to see her, but he didn't move either.

"_Please… stop this…."_

Zoro also heard her sad voice. He was fascinated because she looked really beautiful as she spoke to Kuro.

"_It's enough… Don't torture yourself anymore… Kuro…!"_

Anger suddenly flared inside Zoro. He finally understood everything. The one she wanted him to help wasn't Jango. It was Kuro's spirit. He also knew the fact that Kuro was only used and he was betrayed cruelly after that. "Those bastards—!" Zoro gritted his teeth in fury.

However, suddenly someone slapped Zoro's back, surprising him. Zoro looked up beside him and he saw Smoker's concerned face. "I told you not to overdo it."

"Smoker…," Zoro then suddenly felt something refreshing wash over him again. His anger was receding little by little until he could get his composure back.

"Be careful, that anger isn't yours." Smoker said as he stood and offered a hand to Zoro who gladly accepted it. The green haired boy stood again. His feet were still trembling a bit, but he could manage to stand. "I don't know those two know each other." The cop gazed at the two spirits with curious look.

"She… wanted me to help Kuro," Zoro said slowly now, perfectly calm again. Smoker looked at him in a surprise look. "I know everything and something that can prove that Full Body and his sister were involved in the murders done by Kuro. And Jango… he is a fucking genius actor," he frowned deeply at that. "I'll tell you everything about it."

Smoker was silent for a moment before he nodded. "Let's go back to my house first. You need a rest," he said thoughtfully and Zoro appreciated it very much. He was so fucking tired he could sleep right away. This connecting thing really drained his strength, even more than his usual intense muscle training. Smoker smiled a bit. "You go and stop a taxi. I need to do something first."

Zoro looked at Smoker in curious puzzled look, but he couldn't read his expression at all. "Okay…," he agreed slowly, not wanting to argue or to ask more because he was tired enough. He could always ask later anyway. Slowly, Zoro walked to the roadside after he fetched his sword sheath and sheathed his Wadou back.

Smoker looked at the two spirits and he closed his eyes sadly. "I am sorry… but Kuro is already…." The cop then opened his eyes again with resolute look. "It's for your own good."

**ZORO—RORONOA—ZORO**

Smoker walked slowly to the roadside where Zoro was waiting for him. The boy had stopped a taxi and he was already inside the yellow colored car on the passenger seat at the back.

"What are you doing, taking so long?" Zoro asked as Smoker got on as well and closed the door.

"It's a removal," Smoker answered flatly.

"What?" Zoro looked at him in a confused look.

Smoker sighed long. "You'll know after you learn everything. For now, just concentrate on resting. Connecting two times a day must be really exhausting and hard on your physical condition. You even vomited back then," he said while ruffling Zoro's hair slowly.

Zoro looked a bit embarrassed at Smoker's treatment. His face flushed slightly and he also muttered slowly. "Stop treating me like I was still a kid…." Still, the boy didn't protest more as he leaned against the leather jock. Shortly after, his eyes began to droop and he fell asleep after a minute of the futile struggle to stay awake.

Smoker's lips corners turned upward a bit as he saw the innocent look on Zoro's face as he was asleep.

**ZORO—RORONOA—ZORO**

Zoro blinked slowly as he woke up from his deep sleep. He was already on Smoker's bed and the cop… was sleeping on the big chair beside his working desk. The room was still quite dark. He didn't think it had been morning. He also felt exceptionally refreshed. That was… a bit weird. He thought he would get something like nightmare or horrible headache after what happened yesterday with the connecting and everything. And he hadn't told Smoker about the evidence he found while he was connecting with Kuro too.

But… he was still a bit confused. If Kuro was used by Jango and his cronies to kill, what was his relationship with Reona? Jango said she was his ex-girlfriend… did he refer it after she passed away or longer before that? In the end Kuro indeed killed Reona and those people. Anyway… why would people let himself be used like that? Sure, Kuro was –cough- involved with Jango, but… something as horrible as killing for love was…

Smoker's grunt brought Zoro back to reality from his musing. He saw the cop open his eyes slowly and he turned his face at Zoro. "You've woken up," he said, his voice a bit raspy after sleeping and his face looked exceptionally tired.

"Oh, yeah… you too?" Zoro felt a bit awkward suddenly. He had intruded Smoker personal space long enough and he even took his bed from him. He felt a bit… responsible for that.

Smoker brought his hand over his mouth and yawned slightly. "Okay," he said as he sat upward. "I am ready to hear your story."

Zoro nodded and began to tell him what he saw when Kuro and he were connecting. He didn't explicitly tell Smoker about Kuro's feelings though. He finished as he mentioned the evidence. "I saw the book in Full Body's house. It's on the table in the corner of his guestroom. It's an old black covered book."

"Alright," Smoker stood and took out his cell phone from the working desk beside him. He began to punch the buttons with his thumb and made a call somewhere. "Ah, hello, Tashigi. I want you to inform Chief Garp about Kuro's case. It needs more investigation." Then he paused, listening to the other person on the phone. "No, I already induced the search and I found the evidence that leads to more accomplices. Oh, and tell Hina as well. She needs to pay attention to her jurisdiction more." Then he hanged up.

Zoro still looked at him with inquisitive expression. In the end he was still curious about the thing Smoker said yesterday. He noted some words that was unfamiliar for him like… _turning into ayakashi_, _haki_, _removal_ and some other words he didn't remember. Anyway, he expected him to explain what they meant.

"What?" It seemed Smoker noticed his stare.

Zoro scratched the back of his neck slightly. "Um… don't you want to explain things… about yesterday? I mean, you spoke awfully lots of terms I didn't understand," he said slowly.

"You're right," Smoker sighed and sat down again. "Let see, what do you want to know?"

"What is turning into _ayakashi_?" Zoro asked directly.

Smoker chuckled at his forwardness. "Okay. You've ever heard the word _ayakashi_ before, right?"

Zoro nodded. "It appears a lot in Japanese history.

"Basically, it's the same as that. However, before you can understand further, you must know that there are many kinds of spirits in this world. Human, animals, plants-"

"Plants also have spirit?" Zoro raised a question, cutting Smoker's line.

"Yes," Smoker nodded. "And, spirits are classified into two groups: _rei_ (4) and _ayakashi_."

By the time Smoker 'spirits are classified into…,' Zoro already lost it. "Okay," he said, raising his hand. "I think I have a headache now."

"You're the one who wanted to know," Smoker made a face.

"I didn't know that you will explain it _scientifically_ like that," Zoro defended himself.

"Right. Instead of knowing it half-assed, you have to learn the basic first. _That person_ can help you with it," Smoker said.

"Okay…," Zoro nodded slowly. "Oh, and…," he hesitated for a moment before asking, "What about Jango and Full Body?" he asked.

Smoker smirked slightly at that. "They're already taken care of."

"Eh?" Zoro raised his face in dumbfounded look.

**ZORO—RORONOA—ZORO**

"Here," Smoker offered a map of paper to Zoro as they were waiting for a bus which would drive them to Mount Fuji.

"What is it?" Zoro received the map in puzzled look.

"It's the entire story of what happened in Kuro's case." Smoker said as he lit his cigar.

Zoro opened the map and began to read. He skipped the things he had known and came to a word diary. Inside the diary he read a journal of experiments to develop new hallucinogenic drugs that couldn't be detected by any test. Kuro was… a guinea pig of this project. The researcher was… Reona herself. Janggo was her hand; Full Body and his sister were her sponsor. She didn't agree on her friends' irresponsible acts, using human as a test tool. An argument aroused and they split up. She didn't know that they're still continuing the project without her. After long under pressure, Kuro went berserk because of the drug. He nearly killed Jango once, that's why he was in jail. After two years, they thought the drugs were already worn off, so they helped Kuro out of jail and this time, they used him to kill Reona who knew the truth about everything and confronted them to stop. However, because most of Kuro's humanity had been damaged by the drugs, he couldn't live like normal human again, so he wasn't perfect anymore. They decided to dispose him as well….

"It wasn't just like this…," Zoro commented quietly. He knew that Kuro wasn't that damaged. At least… he could still feel how sad and angry he was for being used and then betrayed by the one he loved. How deep his hatred and grudge for him after being hurt so badly inside. Of course he was also wrong for blindingly in love with the jerk, but he couldn't do anything about it. But Kuro didn't kill because he wanted to. He was forced… under the spell of that drug and Jango's words.

Smoker looked at the boy with understanding eyes. "I know, but we can't just tell the world what he intended to hide for himself," he said calmly.

Short time later, the bus came and they got on.

"Human is… the worst, huh?" Zoro looked slightly depressed at that.

"Maybe," Smoker answered slowly. "But don't forget, those un-living beings around us… also came from human once."

Then the bus drove them away to the person who would help Zoro controlling his new ability.

**End of Chapter 4**

**Tbc…

* * *

**

**Notes:**

**1)**_**Esper**_**:** some kind of psychic; I am not really sure if it's Japanese or not, but I often hear Japanese people say that to call a person with ability to read other people's mind.

**2)**_**Ayakashi**_**:** it's a Japanese term to call a demon in Japan, but it's different from western demon. In Indonesian, it's called 'siluman.' Ayakashi has classification and name for each kind. Other Japanese words for a demon: _**oni **_(iblis in Indonesian),and specific term to call a monster: _**bakemono **_(taken from Japanese-Indonesian dictionary).

**3)**_**It**_**ō**_**ryū**_**:** Single Sword Technique

**4)**_**Rei**_**:** spirit, ordinary spirit ('roh' in Indonesian).

**A/N: **Whoah… I can't believe this chapter is this long… Um…, so what do you think? Well, I myself can't really say anything. The connecting thing… I can't really get it down right. Because I intended to make it confusing... it's not detailed as well. Sorry for that. Well, it's rated T after all. And finally, next chapter Zoro will learn about everything! XD I'll do my best to update faster next time. Anyway, comments and critiques are always welcomed. See you in next chapter!

With Love,

Lunaryu~~~


	5. Onikui Sandai Kitetsu

**A/N: **Okay… I realized I should probably update my other stories first, but I didn't know why this story wouldn't come off of my head, so I decided to update this one earlier and postpone the others. Sorry for that. I also noticed that this story lacked of readers… Might be it was too boring to read. Well, I don't mind though; I like and enjoy writing it anyway. So… here was it, the new chapter of this story! Chapter 5, enjoy~ XD

**Disclaimer: Odachi owns One Piece and its characters. I only borrow them to play with…**

**Warning: **_foul language, horrible-sadistic images, AU, superstitions, ideas of supernatural beings, oOC-ness and everything else… *shrugs* you name it._

**Additional Note:** Umm, from now on I will use some cultural terminologies that might only exist in Japan. Don't worry, I'll explain it in the middle of the narration or in the dialogues of the characters, but after that, I will use them the way they are, so you might want to pay a bit attention to the terms. It won't be that difficult, I hope…

* * *

**The Connector**

**Chapter 5: **_**Demon Eater, Sandai Kitetsu**_

In the living room of Roronoa residence, a phone was ringing. It was already passed midnight. All of the residents in the house were already asleep; well, except one person though.

_Click._

A sound of the phone-handle being plugged off of its transmitter was heard. "Hello," a deep cool voice greeted the caller.

"Hey, it's me."

There was a silence before the receiver said back. "It's been awhile since we talked."

"Damn right." The caller chuckled with an amused voice. "Oh, the kid's with me, by the way." The receiver could hear the caller drag a deep breath, a familiar sound of inhaling cigar, before that person released the smoke with a sigh.

"On the way to Master's house?" the receiver asked then.

"Tomorrow; I've been writing a complete report about that serial killer case. Damn rosy woman wouldn't even help." The receiver could hear an annoyed huff, and chuckled. "Not funny _at al_." The caller protested. He could almost see him glare and whine.

"Okay…," the receiver had a difficult time holding his amused snicker. "Make sure he's okay?" he asked after calming down for a bit.

"Sure thing," the caller answered. "Though…, this might become _hell_ for him."

"Sounds creepy," the receiver cringed a bit at that. "Will he be really alright?" A hint of concern featured his voice.

"Don't worry. I came back alive last time, didn't I?" The receiver really could picture his caller's grin.

"He's _not _you." He frowned.

"Oh, you shouldn't be anxious of something like that. He's stronger than that."

A brief silence fell between the two before the receiver sighed. "I guess it can't be helped. I'll leave Zoro in your care for awhile, Smoker."

"You too. Don't push yourself too much, Alan."

Another click sounded, and the line was off.

**ZORO—RORONOA—ZORO**

Zoro could hear a sound of the water flowing. His mind was so relaxed, in trance, that he could almost feel the sweep of cool air on his naked skin. Resonance of rusting leaves tickled his ears. Thumps of the bamboo pipe on the pond created a harmonic melody with his steady heartbeats.

It was so peaceful, so comfortable before—

"WAKE UP, YOU IMBECILE PUPIL!"

A very cranky loud voice shouted straight to his ear, almost bursting up his eardrums.

"Holly FUCK!" Zoro sprang up, straightly standing while taking his katana under his pillow, and then readied a defensive stance in a panicky, searching for any danger that could harm him.

"Ck, ck, ck, it's still no good." A man in a dark blue kimono made appearance in front of Zoro, holding his chin with one hand, the other one hiding behind the fabric on his chest, while frowning at the boy critically.

"Shit—, RYUUMA! What the hell!?" Zoro was a bit relieved that it was his mentor, but pissed off as well because the older man always did something crazy like this to wake him up. Zoro glanced at his portable clock beside his futon. It read 4.30 a.m. "Damn it, it's still blind morning! What the hell do you want!?"

Ryuuma smirked. His straight long dark hair which was already tied into high pony tail swayed slightly as he moved. "There's an opening," he whistled, slightly amused at his pupil's bad temper.

"What?" Zoro titled his head up and before he could make out what the man had said something jumped him from the other side.

"Zoro-saaan!"A fully human skeleton flied to Zoro's direction.

"GYAAAAA!" Zoro was in severe shock as he saw the afro-ed skull landed straightly in front of his face that he used his katana, still fully sheathed, to smack the thing away from him.

"Ouch," Ryuuma winced at the cracking sound of the bones. "Man, you're vicious. Poor Brook," he added, sweat dropping, as the skeleton landed on the _tatami_ fifteen feet away from Zoro and him, on the other side of the room.

Zoro snapped and realized what just happened. "Damn it! Brook!" and he ran to after the skeleton. "Shit—, sorry! Hey, are you still alive?" he knelt down beside the scattered bones in worried look.

"Yohohoho," the skull rolled to Zoro's knee and the boy forced himself not to flinch. No matter how often he saw it, he still cringed seeing the thing. "I am nothing but bones, yohoho. That will not kill me. Still hurts though," the skull said and Zoro saw the bones reconstructed to be a fully human skeleton again in front of him. "Good morning, Zoro-san!"

Then suddenly, the skeleton was fully clothed again, a worn out dark purple suit, western style, with dark long pants. It was even completed with a black high hat on top of his afro. How a skeleton still had an afro, Zoro didn't know, and honestly, he didn't want to know.

"What a sick way to say 'good morning,'" Zoro complained with a frowned brow as Brook bent and bowed at him as if he were a gentleman. "And damn it, it's still so freaking early! What the hell was that for?"

"Morning practice, of course," an answer came from behind the green haired teen and Zoro made a face as he turned his face at the owner of that voice. "You're still too _immature_ Roronoa Zoro-kun. How many days have passed, do you think? And you still can't even feel _ayakashi's _presence. You forget to call me _sishou _(1) again to boot," he added.

_The last line is so unnecessary_—Zoro thought, deadpanned, with a bead of sweat on his cheek.

"Well, you can't just expect me to feel _anything _while I am asleep!" Zoro protested.

"It should be a defense mechanism. Or you'll get your ass kicked in your sleep," Ryuuma smirked again at him superiorly.

_Fuck_, Zoro wanted to wipe that underestimating look on his face. This guy pissed him off so much.

Shuushui Ryuuma was a deserted samurai from _Wanokuni—where the hell was it anyway?_—who hid himself in a forest on Mount Fuji. He was the mentor Smoker told him who could help Zoro know and control his new ability more profoundly. Smoker said Ryuuma was very powerful, both in his physic and in his spiritual. Rumor said he was a _dragon slayer_. He didn't know it was true or not though. The detective had accompanied Zoro to come to look for him, but he just went home the moment he pushed the boy to Ryuuma after their eccentric meeting in the forest.

That Samurai freaking attacked them as a surprise welcome.

Zoro remembered feeling exceedingly calm when they entered a certain border inside the forest. He could feel cleansing air around him and it felt really _full_ of something he didn't understand.

"_It's spirit particle,"_ Smoker had said, but he didn't explain further about that.

Then, when he thought the air suddenly stilled, Ryuuma came down from a tree with the edge of a long black katana drawn at Zoro's head while shouting _"An openiiing!"_

If Smoker hadn't stopped the blade with his gun, Zoro would have been split into two.

_Damn bastard actually tried to kill me before—_Zoro thought sourly, and was pissed even more because Smoker left him alone with this crazy samurai.

Indeed, Ryuuma was very strong. Zoro could feel it the moment he saw the man. Zoro was a swordsman, he could measure how strong his opponent just by looking and feeling his presence. This guy had no presence, almost like a phantom. He couldn't even feel he was there until the moment he attacked. Only a _master_ could do something like that. He might be as strong as… _no;_ he was stronger than Mihawk, probably.

"A defense mechanism my ass! I wouldn't even need that if you didn't attack me every _damned_ morning!" Zoro shouted at the man in annoyed look.

"Don't be stupid. I wasn't attacking you. Brook was," Ryuuma stared at Zoro with an innocent look.

"_In your command!_" Zoro added, getting frustrated because the damn mentor also had a _silver tongue_. He's so damn good at making excuse.

"Yohohoho, today will be sunny again," Brook said with a cheery voice.

"Don't laugh, Brook!" Zoro shouted at the skeleton, face faulting.

Brook, the skeleton was an _ayakashi_. From Ryuuma's 'getting to know monsters for dummies' notebook, Zoro had somehow grasped the ideas of _beings_ that existed in this mortal world. Ryuuma used 'beings' because they weren't exactly creatures. Some were, though; and some just… well, didn't belong to creatures since they had no physical bodies.

Anyway, from what Zoro had learned, there were four types of beings in this world: humans, plants and animals, rei and ayakashi. There was no problem with mortal creatures such as human, plants and animals, the problems were rei and ayakashi.

Rei was a spirit, a being that was supposed to reside in a flesh. It was like a soul, a core of life. If the mortal creatures died, they would lose the flesh, but their rei would just lose its vassal. Normally, rei couldn't stay long in the mortal world without vassal. It would go to where it belonged to. People called that 'go to the other side,' to the land of the dead. However, there were some cases that rei could stay in the mortal world, such as when they had unfinished business or regrets. Either way, they couldn't go before they took care of it. But, they could be persuaded to go after their business was taken care off.

Human's rei and plants' or animals', had something called 'sinzou' inside. It was a 'heart.' They could feel because of sinzou in their rei, whether it was love, hatred, sadness or anything. Of course, the intensity of sinzou of each creature was different. A being that was controlled most by this sinzou was human's rei. It might be because human was the most dominant residence in mortal world. Their feelings were the most powerful ones as well. So, when their rei was skinned free from their flesh, it had the most intense 'sinzou' as well.

Then, if 'sinzou' inside a rei was too strong or because it had a very long time to grow, rei could turn into ayakashi. This being was almost the same as rei, but it achieved a _power_ to influence other creature's life. Rei was normally couldn't be seen with naked eyes and couldn't be touched, but ayakashi could appear and be seen if they wanted to be. Worse, they could touch and hurt the mortals with their pseudo-physical flesh or with their mind power alone. Ayakashi could create any appearance they wanted in the eyes of mortals. And most of ayakashi were evil. Not all, _most_. And usually, they had lost their initial purpose, only driven by instinct to hurt, to kill and to devour.

Most of ayakashi came from human's rei. There were also ayakashi from animals and plants' rei, but they're very-very rare. Their sinzou wasn't as strong as human's rei. A case that could turn animals or plants' rei into an ayakashi usually included a very powerful spiritual energy, like in hollow grounds, sacred places, just like in Mount Fuji or in old capital Kyoto. It took a very long time, hundreds years for these kinds of rei to turn into Ayakashi. And usually, ayakashi from plants and animals' rei turned out to be 'guardian' of places. They were not evil. They only protected the ground they live in. There was very little feeling involved.

On the other hand, human's rei was really easy to turn into ayakashi. Mostly because of the most intense feeling they had the moment before they died. Hatred and resentment were the most dominant. Most ayakashi were evil because of these feelings. And once those rei turned to be an ayakashi, they borrowed any form they wanted, and there was no way they could be normal rei anymore. In other words, they could not get persuaded to go. The only way to cleanse them was to destroy them thoroughly to their sinzou, equally killing them. It was called 'removal.'

After Zoro read about that, he thought about what Smoker had done to Kuro's ayakashi. The older man had mentioned that Kuro was turning into ayakashi. That meant… the 'removal' he said after that was… to _kill_ Kuro completely. Knowing that, for some reason Zoro became a bit sad.

"Now, get your ass moved, brat!" Ryuuma's voice startled Zoro from his train of thought in accumulating all the information he had gotten from the older man's note these days. "We're starting today's training with meditating under waterfall!"

A brief silence fell over the room before "EEEEEEEH!?" Zoro screeched. "At this time!? Do you want me to die by hypothermia!?" he protested incredulously.

"If you're concentrating enough, that will be nothing! Numb your five mortal senses to sharpen the sixth! So you can feel rei and ayakashi!" Ryuuma shouted at him overconfidently.

"You're _NUTS_!" Zoro yelled again at the man, but he was officially ignored as he started singing together with the afro-ed skeleton-ayakashi.

Zoro sighed and forcefully dragged his feet to his bag. If he was going to get wet, he at least should bring some clean dry clothes for a change.

**ZORO—RORONOA—ZORO**

Ryuuma stared at his new pupil meditating under the waterfall silently from his sitting spot, on top of a big rock beside the riverbank behind Ryuuma's house, down to the valley. The skeleton, Brook, was in the shallow side of the river, playing with some water and fish.

"He sure complained a lot earlier, but he's still doing it anyway, to his heart content even," Ryuuma wondered slowly as he saw Zoro concentrating to fight the hard and cold waterfall.

"Yohohoho, Zoro-san's here to steal some skills from you, brother," Brook said in amused tone, though his expression wouldn't change since he was a skeleton.

"That might be true…," Ryuuma smiled faintly before he narrowed his eyes a bit and changed his expression into serious look. "I'm still considering that _this boy_ is dangerous though."

Brook stopped his activity and walked closer to Ryuuma. He hopped onto the rock and sat beside him. "Why do you think he is dangerous?" he asked the man beside him while humming an old song.

"Hey, Brook, do you think he's already used to you?" Ryuuma didn't answer Brook question, only staring at the water beneath his feet.

"I suppose?" Brook felt a bit odd being asked something like that. "But… he's still flinching whenever I am around, and I bet he will still feel nauseous if I touch him," he continued.

"Hmm… I see. Then Smoker might be right as well," Ryuuma now moved his interest to his black long katana. He gazed at the _hamon_, the reflected light of the sword which strangely was in pink color. Then his memory flashed back to the time when he talked to Smoker about his new pupil.

"_He can see things?"_ Ryuuma asked while sitting in Indian style and smoking from his pipe. _"Just like you, then?"_

"_Worse,"_ Smoker sipped his tea from the cup on his hand.

"_He can hear and feel?"_ Ryuuma put down his pipe and looked at his former pupil seriously. _"He can 'connect' to rei?"_

"_Yes,"_ Smoker nodded and put his teacup down on the table as well.

"_Well, he's a nasty problem then. You want me to 'take care' of him?"_ Ryuuma smirked knowingly.

"_Actually, Ryuuma-sishou, I want you to show him how to control and use his ability in the right way,"_ Smoker said flatly.

"_You're kidding. Don't add my problems anymore, kid. You know how dangerous it is," _Ryuuma widened his eyes a bit, not believing his own sight and hearing that he was just asked to do something completely outrageous.

"_Sishou, he isn't a 'shaman,'"_ Smoker said.

"_Aah? Looked from every aspect, he's a shaman, isn't he? Otherwise, why can he do the connecting?"_ Ryuuma started to suspect that his former pupil had already been forgetful or just lost his judging ability or something.

"_Indeed, he can connect, but the rei doesn't enter his body. He merely touches them and their memories flows to enter him. Besides, there's a nasty side effect as well. His body 'rejects' those memories that the process manifests into headache and nausea. His body isn't qualified to be a shaman. He will break if this continues. I want you to show him how to do the connecting that isn't breaking his body."_ Smoker explained in a serious look.

"_Arrogant brat, you're asking for impossible," _Ryuuma face faulted at him. _"Don't tell me you already forgot how dangerous it is to mess up with 'the other side.' What doesn't belong to this mortal world should just stay away silently! Connecting two worlds will only bring disaster!"_

"_But Sishou, they are here! You and I and that boy can see them! Do you want to pretend you don't see them at all? They need help and we can help! What's wrong with that!?"_ Smoker started to raise the volume of his voice and Ryuuma was sure it would escalate again into a full blown spiteful argument if he argued back.

Well, he and Smoker indeed had a different idea to handle their ability. Surely, Ryuuma knew a lot more about beings, but he didn't wish to use his ability for anything aside survival, unlike Smoker who was a detective. His sight helped him a lot to solve many cases, yet because he couldn't hear them or feel their 'sinzou,' he couldn't do much to solve their problems. Smoker felt really unfair to them and suffered a lot because of that. Probably, that was the reason why he wanted to help the boy controlling his _gift_. He could see, hear and feel. He could help them. Still…

"_No is a no. He's still dangerous. I won't make another threat to the mortal world,"_ Ryuuma's decision was final. He had had enough with all of the connecting shit. He had created one and it was a mistake. He didn't want to feel anything close to that time ever again.

Smoker looked like he almost burst out in anger, but he clenched his fists and gritted his teeth to hold it down. _"At least… you can teach him to protect himself from evil beings. If he wants to use it for survival, you will help, right?"_ he used an almost pleading tone.

Well, it must have been Ryuuma's hearing playing trick on him. Smoker wouldn't beg for everything, he was that kind of guy. Just like when he left the mountain some years ago, he just went home without saying good bye. He was an arrogant asshole like that.

"_Okay, alright,"_ Ryuuma sighed in defeat, giving in._ "But I'll only teach him the basic. The rest is that boy and your responsibility,"_ he scratched his head, his hand running through his long hair.

"_Then…, I'll leave him in your care, sishou!"_

_Smoker's face at that time brightened in pleased look, that smug-bastard. How come I have a soft spot for someone like that anyway?_—Ryuuma sighed weakly. He knew that he was being used by that brat, but he couldn't really turn him down. Despite everything that happened between them, he was his former teacher. It was a teacher job to help his pupil.

Well, Smoker wasn't his pupil anymore. But for Ryuuma, he was definitely still a brat.

"Ryuuma-kun?" Brook's voice brought him back to reality. He turned his face at Brook and made a 'what?' face. "You're frowning again. What are you thinking?" he asked.

"You can read it can't you, Brook?" Ryuuma wondered why Brook asked something so strange.

"I prefer hearing it directly from you rather than having to peek inside your head, yohoho," Brook said cheerily and for some odd reason, Ryuuma almost could see the skeleton smiling at him.

Ryuuma chuckled a bit. "Silly skeleton. Okay then, if you insist," Ryuuma grinned at him and began to tell him what he was thinking earlier.

**ZORO—RORONOA—ZORO**

_Damn mentor and his stupid skeleton!_—Zoro grumbled inside as he was fighting the piercing cold water fall on his skin. He was quite used to it by now, but that was just because his whole body had gone numb from the cold. He had no trouble in concentrating, but it didn't mean he had forgiven those guys' tyranny.

They asked for impossible things sometimes. He was quite strong in physical activity, and was sharp enough to feel human's presence, but if he suddenly was asked to feel the rei and ayakashi's presences, he couldn't just say yes or okay! If rei was close enough, he would feel heavy, but ayakashi was in the whole different level. They could hide their presence at will, and at the same time, they could attack with it alone, just like Kuro and his nauseating miasma. He could pretty much understand the differences between the living being and the un-living ones now, but he still couldn't do it by feeling it alone. He still depended on his sight for that.

Zoro had tried to train his thought and sense to feel rei only with a glance, but he still had a difficulty to differ human and human rei from afar. If the rei was still _new_, they looked just like the state when they died. However, the longer rei stayed behind in mortal world, the more similar they became to living human. In this case, Zoro had to come closer and feel it directly if it was a human or a rei.

As for ayakashi, usually Zoro could feel evil miasma from them whether they disguised themselves as human or not. However, if the ayakashi was strong enough to hide their miasma, well… Zoro had to take risk to touch it.

Though, he preferred not to do that. He almost died several times involving himself with them in this hell training.

_Ah…, but Brook is a bit different though, even if he is an ayakashi as well…_

Strangely, Brook didn't give a hive of evil presence. Zoro was quite shocked when he met the skeleton for the first time. The damned ayakashi greeted them on the front door of Japanese traditional house when they arrived on Ryuuma's residence. The freaking skeleton hanged his feet on the wooden ceiling and greeted them such as in a haunted house horror fashion. Zoro wouldn't admit it out loud that he was quite freaked out when he saw him for the first time. He would have screamed if Smoker and Ryuuma hadn't been there. He yelped though, and Smoker already made fun of it.

_That detective is also a bastard_—Zoro grumbled inwardly again as he remembered Smoker's smug look as he noticed how shocked Zoro was.

Aside that… Zoro only felt the difference in space of this place and outside. By outside, he meant outside the border. It was as if he were in different world. It was here, yet it was not. He couldn't really explain it. Probably it was influenced by how much spirit particle around. It was as if he were inside an invisible barrier.

_Well, if indeed I am inside a barrier… then I have to learn how to make it. In case there are evil things out there, for self-protection of course—!?_

Zoro moved his head in time as he felt something coming to his head's direction. He didn't have time to check what that was because he fell off the rock he was currently meditating on- to the water. He quickly swam up to the surface and glared at the spot his mentor was standing. He growled at the smirking man in annoyed look. "What now? I already mediated like you wanted," Zoro protested a bit loudly, fighting the waterfall sound. He was sure Ryuuma was the one throwing that… whatever it was.

"Breakfast time, Zoro-kun, now get going!" Ryuuma shouted aloud as well, so Zoro could hear his voice.

"Can you at least inform me using better method than throwing random thing to people's head!?" Zoro protested more, while swimming to the riverbank.

"The result is the same; it's easier that way, right?" Ryuuma smirked smugly at Zoro again and Zoro wanted to punch him very much right now. Too bad he felt really cold and numb. He hopped up to the ground and took his towel and dry clothes. He changed quickly and followed Ryuuma who didn't have a decency to wait for him.

Unknown to Zoro, something was peeking at Ryuuma and him behind the trees and bushes.

**ZORO—RORONOA—ZORO**

"How is your feeling?" Ryuuma asked as both Zoro and he ate their breakfast.

Zoro was so caught of guar by the unexpected question that he halted the chopsticks before they entered his mouth. He glanced at his mentor with odd look. "What's with the sudden interest? I thought you didn't care whether I was alive or dead as long as I didn't bother you."

"How rude; even if I'm like this, I'm still your sishou, you know," Ryuuma's face faulted.

"Yeah, right," Zoro rolled his eyes at him and continued eating.

Ryuuma stared at Zoro's face for a moment before he spoke again. "Are you okay being around Brook now?" he asked.

Now Zoro knew where this conversation was going. He had caught some hesitation the first time Ryuuma taught him. Smoker said it was because his ability was close to a _shaman's_. Shaman was like a connector of two different worlds. He didn't know why, but it seemed shaman was considered dangerous. He didn't know what kind of things shaman could do, but the connecting thing was indeed the same as his. He didn't know the detail, but it seemed Smoker didn't think he was a shaman. The reason? He didn't know. He hadn't had any chance to ask and Smoker had already gone the next morning.

Anyway, Ryuuma was making sure that he wasn't a shaman by asking how he felt whenever other beings were close to him.

"It's fine, I guess?" Zoro said, unsurely.

"Do you still feel any discomfort?" Ryuuma pried more.

_Who will be comfortable being around something like that anyway?_—Zoro thought ridiculously.

"Well, no offense to Brook, but I will never get comfortable around rei or ayakashi," Zoro answered honestly.

"Good," Ryuuma said in a small smile. Zoro wanted to ask 'why?' but then Ryuuma snapped and jerked in alerted face. "There's an intruder," he said suddenly, surprising Zoro.

"Huh?" Now Zoro was confused.

Ryuuma grabbed his katana and stood. Zoro put down his bowl and reached his Wadou as well. Even though he was still confused, he intended to follow his mentor whatever he wanted to do.

"Stay here," Ryuuma said suddenly, stopping him.

"Eh? Is everything okay?" Zoro was a bit wary of Ryuuma's serious tense expression. He put his Wadou back beside him carefully.

"It's okay. Just stay here and don't make any noise." Ryuuma walked slowly to the sliding wooden door and walked out the room before sliding it close again.

Zoro scowled at the distant treatment. _Both he and Smoker are always too paranoid and secretive. What's the harm letting me see?_—he was annoyed somehow. People around him (well, in this case Smoker and Ryuuma) tended to be overprotective. Well, yeah, they're older and all, but they didn't have to babysit him too much. He was capable of taking care of himself, damn it.

The room was eerily quiet when Zoro was alone, eating sullenly. He knew he had behaved like a sulking child. Trust him; it pissed him off knowing he was pissed off of being treated like a kid. It showed him he was indeed still a kid. Zoro sighed at the thought and decided he would forget about it. He took a glass of water and was about to drink it as suddenly a screech was heard.

Zoro burst out his drink in surprise. "What the—?" he grabbed his katana and stood. No matter if he would get yelled at by Ryuuma later, his curiosity won over him after all. He wanted to know what's happening.

Zoro had never heard such voice before. It clearly didn't belong to Ryuuma, so it must have been owned by the intruder. _Is it ayakashi?_

Zoro had just come out of the room less than five seconds when Ryuuma appeared again. They guy looked extremely annoyed as he was on his way back to the breakfast room. Zoro noticed he was dragging something on his left hand. That something was dark brown, hairy, and had a pink hat and a red short. Something like horn stuck out from each side of the hat and Ryuuma was holding one of it. And it was struggling, yelping and screeching.

"How dare you, human! Let me go, asshole! Who do you think you're dragging around!?"

Zoro was speechless with mouth opened when he noticed that he understood what the thing was yelling about. Short time later, even before Ryuuma noticed he was out, he shouted "A _tanuki (2)_ is talking!" in such a surprised voice that surprised even his mentor.

"Zoro?" Ryuuma blinked as he turned his face at his shocked pupil.

"Gaaah! Who are you calling a tanuki, bastard!? I'm a reindeer!" The tanuki-thing screeched more, but now it set its angry big round hazel eyes at Zoro and the teen could only stare at his blue nose.

"And it has blue nose to boot! A blue nosed talking tanuki!" Zoro could care less of what the thing yelled and continued his surprised comment.

"So what if I have a blue nose!? And I am a reindeer, asshole!" It yelled heatedly in such high loud voice that irritated Ryuuma.

"Aah, shut up, you two!" The mentor lost his patience and threw the tanuki to Zoro's direction and successfully shut them both as their head collided with each other and fell to the hard wooden floor.

Well, they yelped though. "OUCH!! What the hell—!" Both groaned in pain as they tried to get up.

"Good, now it's peaceful," Ryuuma huffed.

"Stop throwing things to other people's head, will you?!" Now was Zoro's time to protest.

"You're too noisy," Ryuuma said with an annoyed look.

"Damn you, human! How dare you throw me like that! I'll kill you!" the thing cried angrily.

Zoro's attention was quickly snatched away by the tanuki again. He grabbed its red short before the thing could run away and lifted it to observe it better. The tanuki yelped again in surprise as it was lifted and being stared at in such inquiring gaze. "What the heck is this, an ayakashi?" Zoro asked and guessed then. Strangely, Zoro didn't feel sick or nauseous touching the thing. It was such a wonder.

"How rude! I am nothing like that!" The tanuki yelled at him with flushed face. How Zoro understood it was flushing was beyond his imagination. It was a freaking tanuki, man. Anyway, it looked extremely angry or embarrassed… or both. "Now let go of me, asshole! Stop staring so blatantly at me like that!" it yelled again with a little kid's voice, throwing a tantrum.

Zoro stared at it struggle to break free even though with such short hands and feet, it was completely futile. He couldn't even touch Zoro's arm. It was pretty amusing, but Zoro's curiosity won over him again that he looked at it in deadpanned look. He turned his face at his mentor in curious gaze.

"It's not an ayakashi," Ryuuma noticed the look Zoro gave him and enlightened him a bit. "It's an animal."

"What do you mean by 'it'!? I am a _he_!" the tanuki shrieked more angrily.

"Aah? No way! A Tanuki isn't supposed to talk, you know?" Zoro was skeptical.

"How many times should I tell you; I am a REINDEER, damn it!" the tanuki was obviously frustrated because no one paid attention to his words.

Zoro and Ryuuma sensed the exasperation and frustration and looked at the tanuki. They blinked several times watching the tanuki closely before "Looked from every aspect, you're a tanuki, aren't you?" Ryuuma said and Zoro nodded in agreement. The tanuki was completely shocked, and went limp on Zoro's hand. It trembled slightly while muttering something like 'Human and their rudeness' or like 'I'll curse them all' or something on those lines.

Zoro noticed something red on the tanuki's foot and he touched it with his free hand. The tanuki yelped in distress and looked at him as if it were about to cry. It looked scared too. Zoro suddenly thought that this animal was pretty cute. "You're hurt," he said, carefully rubbing around the tender wound.

"He fell from a tree earlier. That's for spying on my territory," Ryuuma said, considering enough to change how to refer the reindeer with a 'he' and not an 'it.'

"S-shut up! I just wanted to inspect a bit! I don't mean any harm!" the tanuki yelled at the older man while making an almost crying face.

"Ryuuma, don't bully him. He's wounded," Zoro said while looking at his mentor, face faulting.

"Bring him in. I'll take some herbal medicine to tend to his injury," Ryuuma said as he walked inside the house. Zoro grinned at him.

"What!? I don't need your help, human! Let me go already!" The tanuki looked surprised as he was being lifted carefully enough not to worsen his injury by the green haired boy.

"Calling me human is a bit off. I am Roronoa Zoro. I still don't know what kind of tanuki are you, being capable of talking like human like that. But I guess, we can talk later," Zoro said with a smile on his face.

The tanuki looked surprised and his face flushed again before "I told you I am a REINDEER!" he screeched again in annoyance and embarrassment, making Zoro fall in the fit of laughter.

**ZORO—RORONOA—ZORO**

"So…, do you have a name, Mr. _Reindeer_?" Zoro almost snickered at Ryuuma's unnecessary stress at the word reindeer.

The tanuki or reindeer-that's what he claimed- huffed in annoyance despite already being treated. "…per," he whispered really quietly in hesitant look that both Ryuuma and Zoro had difficulty to hear it.

"Huh?" Zoro leaned closer to hear the reindeer's voice.

"It's Chopper," he said again.

There was a brief silence before "Is it just me or I just heard something like 'western name' on a tanuki?" Zoro asked in ridiculous look.

"I am a REINDEER!" Chopper protested hard again at that.

"Human gave you the name?" Ryuuma asked and Chopper looked up at him in surprise before he nodded slightly. "I see, that's why you're spying this area. Smelling something familiar, aren't you?"

Chopper looked at Ryuuma with a long look. "I just… want to see what kind of human staying in this place," he looked somewhat lonely when he said that.

"Where's you human friend?" Zoro asked and immediately got smacked by Ryuuma with his sheathed sword on top of his head. "OW!! What the—!?" the boy was really surprised by the sudden attack.

"Don't ask unnecessary thing. Call Brook to bring something to eat," the mentor said with serious look. Zoro wanted to protest more, but Ryuuma silenced him by jerking his head to Chopper's direction. The reindeer looked pale and was really troubled.

Something might have happened. Zoro closed his mouth again, then nodded and stood after grabbing his white katana. He walked out to call Brook short time later.

"So…," Ryuuma spoke again after Zoro closed the sliding door. "What happened to you, Chopper?"

**ZORO—RORONOA—ZORO**

Zoro went to the backyard of the house, the katana on one of his shoulder. The skeleton, Brook, was usually there at this time, doing laundry or simply enjoying a morning tea. How a skeleton could drink tea was beyond his imagination. Anyway, on the way there, the green haired boy passed a _forbidden_ storage room. Ryuuma had told him not to peek or enter that room. He said it was dangerous, but Zoro didn't know why. He didn't want to know, though; because it wasn't his business.

However, this time Zoro couldn't really say that as he heard whispering voice when he passed it. "Huh?" he halted right in front of the storage door. Strangely, only this room had western styled door, unlike the other sliding doors on this house. The storage was also made from wood, but it was like an extension of the main house, so Zoro was sure it was built more recently than the house itself.

"Was it my imagination?" Zoro tilted his head aside. "It's just a room, right? What's so dangerous inside a room? Ryuuma said it's just a place to keep things," he mumbled more as curiosity won over him again. These days he became more and more social than he had been. It wasn't like him to snoop around anyone else's business, but… well; he was curious. He couldn't help it.

_If I want to know, then I will know_—Zoro thought in a smirk. He was at that age after all.

Zoro touched the door-handle. He didn't feel anything in particular. He opened the door slightly and peeked inside. Nothing was out of ordinary. He opened the door further and stepped inside the room. As Ryuuma had said, it was just a storage filled with old books in bookshelves and piles of documents on the floor. However, something caught Zoro's attention as he scanned the room further.

In the middle of the room was a black sheathed sword with golden lace on the tip, presented elegantly on top of a small table with a special place to put it. Zoro's breath was stolen by the sudden odd air radiating around the sword. His mind screamed a dangerous alert to back away, yet his eyes was enchanted by it, unable to resist the pull to come closer, to look at it more.

_Awesome…_—Zoro thought in speechless. It was like his whole soul was stolen by the stunning the sword. It was the first time he felt this way about a sword after Kuina's Wadou Ichi Monji. Well, Wadou's beauty was still more overwhelming though, but this sword was also incredible in some odd ways. Instantly, Zoro liked the sword.

As they boy wanted to touch it, he noticed some strange mark around the table. It was like… chain of letters? But he couldn't make out what was written there. He wondered why there was something odd like that. It was as if…

_A barrier?_—Somehow, Zoro knew, but he didn't understand why there was a barrier around it. To protect it from something? Or… the other way around? The sword was emitting some strange air indeed. Might be it was this sword that Ryuuma said was dangerous.

"Heh… interesting," Zoro smirked in excitement. "You're probably…,"

"GYAAA!!" A sudden loud manly shriek surprised Zoro. He snapped and looked at the door direction and found Brook standing with his bony hands on his cheek-bones. Although he couldn't see Brook's expression literally, he was sure the skeleton made a horror look. "Zoro-san, what are you doing!? This room is forbidden to enter!" he screeched now in a panicked tone.

"Oh, okay, calm down Brook. I haven't touched anything yet," Zoro hurriedly lifted his both hands, Wadou was on his left hand, showing his honesty and hurriedly approached Brook to get out of the room. "See?"

"You haven't, then you must have planned to touch something," Brook's voice was skeptical, and Zoro strangely could picture he was narrowing his eyes at him.

"Eeh, well…," Zoro looked at another way, sweat dropping.

"I knew it. Jeez, Zoro-san…. Please don't do something that's bad for my heart… though I have no heart anymore, yohohoho," the skeleton joked around after sighing and stroking his ribs behind the black fabric of his clothes.

Zoro's face faulted at that. No matter how often he heard it, the skull's joke was old.

"Anyway, please don't enter this room again. That sword is dangerous," Brook said in warning tone.

"I know. I can feel it," Zoro smirked excitedly as he thought about it. "That katana… is cursed, right?"

"Eh, how do you know that?" Brook was surprised that Zoro knew, and didn't get scared or anything.

"That katana is incredible. I will kill for a sword like that," Zoro grinned eagerly. Somehow, he looked forward to the prospect of touching the sword later.

"Ah? That's no good, Zoro-san! That katana is too dangerous! Trust me! It has killed many people and its previous owners always died strangely! That sword is totally no good!" Brook told him frantically.

"Even so, it is a fine katana," Zoro said, not really caring about the curse. "If I am lucky enough, it will pick me as an owner, right?" he said confidently.

"Jeez, Zoro-san… where does your confidence come from anyway?" Brook sighed weakly.

Zoro grinned more widely. Surely, the curse of the sword would be dangerous, but he was a swordsman. He was challenged to overcome the wildness of that sword. He might be still green in this rei-ayakashi thing, but if it was about a sword, he believed he had an experience to tame it.

"Ah, that's right," Zoro just remembered why he was there in the first place. "Ryuuma picked up a strange tanuki who believes he is a reindeer, and he asked you to bring some food to the living room."

"A strange tanuki… reindeer?" Brook looked confused.

"Anyway, just bring some food," Zoro understand his confusion. He himself was still confused of what he was after all.

"Oh, okay. I'll bring some food and water to the living room," Brook nodded and walked to the kitchen direction.

Zoro sighed and was about to leave and go back to where Ryuuma and Chopper were when he heard the whispers again. He paused and looked at the storage room one more time for awhile before shrugging and walking away. But this time he could make out what the whispering voice was.

_Our name is… Sandai Kitetsu._

**ZORO—RORONOA—ZORO**

"Huh? Where's Ryuuma?" Zoro was surprised to find the small reindeer alone in the living room. His hat was on his lap and he hugged it as if it was his treasure.

"He's out," Chopper said shyly, not looking at him, hiding part of his face behind his hat.

"Huh… you're pretty docile when you're calm," Zoro sat beside the reindeer and the chocolate fur flinched a bit. Zoro noticed that and wondered. "I take you don't like human, huh?" He put down his sword beside him.

"I hate human," Chopper said the matter of fact. "But… I don't hate Ryuuma and you," he continued slowly with a hint of embarrassment on his face. "Though, you're rude, all of you! That's really annoying!" he quickly added, trying to hide it.

Zoro was having a vision trouble. The reindeer was blushing and looked extremely cute for some reasons. "And you're pretty cute like that." He was an honest person, really.

Chopper went red and yelled at him. "S-shut up! Even if you're praising me, I am not happy at all, bastard!" But his smiling flushing happy frantic expression gave away his true feeling. He swayed around excitedly while holding his hat like dancing. Zoro had a difficulty to hold his laughter. He looked really funny!

"Then… what are you actually, Chopper? You said you're not an ayakashi, but I've never seen an animal talk before," Zoro asked casually after calming down from his laugh.

"I am just a reindeer," Chopper said after calming down and sitting again.

"A tanuki-reindeer," Zoro corrected and the small animal pouted at him in annoyance. Oh, no, he was so cute! "Okay, you're a reindeer, but an ordinary reindeer can't talk, you know," he added, even though he wanted to tease Chopper some more.

"I don't really know myself," Chopper sounded a bit sad as he spoke. "I guess I am what you can call a mishap. A being that's not supposed to be born," he smiled weakly.

Zoro looked at the reindeer seriously. "Don't speak like that," he said as he ruffled Chopper's fur on his head. "People are born for a reason. I am sure it applies for reindeer and your _gift _as well," he smiled at Chopper understandingly. He somehow knew what it felt like. His newborn ability was also strange, but his encounter with those previous reis, Smoker and Ryuuma gave him something to hold onto. He believed that the gift came with a reason, and he wanted to use it as well as he could.

Chopper stared at Zoro for a moment in fascination. "You're also a weird one," he said innocently. Zoro's face faulted at that. "You and Ryuuma… and also doctor," the reindeer smiled small and his cutesy increased tenfold.

But Zoro didn't miss the 'doctor' part. "Is he your friend, that doctor?" Zoro asked.

Chopper was a bit startled at that, but then he smiled happily. "Um, he _was_!"

_Shit…—_Zoro realized when he heard the past tense.

"Um, sorry," Zoro spoke slowly in guilty look. It was really awkward after that.

"It's okay. It doesn't hurt anymore to talk about doctor Hiluluk," Chopper looked honestly happy.

"He's a foreigner," Zoro realized it wasn't a Japanese name.

"Yeah, doctor and I didn't meet in Japan. There was a kingdom in North Pole. It wasn't on the map. He brought me here from there. He taught me many things and we spent a lot of funny time together. It was fun," Chopper spoke lightly as he remembered happy memories. "Doctor was weird, but he was a good man. He wasn't afraid of me," the reindeer continued slowly.

"I see…," Zoro smiled softly at that.

"Aren't you scared seeing an animal talk?" Chopper looked at Zoro curiously now.

"What harm can occur just because you can talk? It's an awesome gift, right? I can understand you because of your words," Zoro grinned now and Chopper looked stunned.

Then the reindeer giggled slightly. "You're indeed weird," he said, but looking happy too. Zoro decided he liked that expression better. He looked just like a stuffed doll for some reason. He bet Nami and Vivi would like him if they met. He laughed together with Chopper after that.

Short time later, Brook came inside the room, bringing food and water for Chopper. The reindeer was really shocked seeing the skeleton and screeched loudly for seeing the ayakashi. He ran around and hid-even though the way he hid was reversed-, begging the speechless skeleton not to eat him. Zoro laughed really hard at that. He explained to Chopper that Brook was okay. He wouldn't attack him.

"Re-really?" Chopper peeked at the skeleton from the door with his body was in plain view and his head was partially covered, face still pale.

"Of course, Brook is Ryuuma's friend, right, Brook?" Zoro looked at Brook while still snickering.

There was a brief pause before he answered. "Yes, that's true," he said with unusually flat tone. Zoro felt a bit weird hearing it. Brook's voice was usually so expressive until he could imagine his expression. However, he quickly forgot about it as soon as Brook began to laugh his 'Yohohoho' laugh before making more skull jokes. Chopper laughed slightly at his joke after that.

"By the way," Zoro then realized that his mentor hadn't come back yet. "Where's Ryuuma anyway? It's not like him, going out for so long… even leaving a guest…!"

However, before he could finish his words, the air suddenly went still. "Huh?" Zoro's body went rigid, and an ominous feeling entered his body as a familiar sickening miasma began to flow around. He quickly covered his nose and mouth as an anticipation before nausea began to well up. "W-what…!?"

"An ayakashi?" Brook's voice was thick with fear.

"Gyaaa!" Chopper began to panic, and ran around the room in scared look.

"Hold it, be quiet!" Zoro tried to fight the stomach-churning feeling, and stood slowly. He tried to focus on something. In this case, he held his white katana in concentration. It proved helping before. Ryuuma also said that focusing mind could reduce the side effect of being surrounded by that sickening air.

"It's here! It's looking for me!" Chopper whispered in a really scared look.

"What…?" Zoro was distracted instantly as he heard that. "What do you mean by that, Chopper?"

"That thing is after me because he said eating me would lengthen his life and add his power!"

"Is that true?" Zoro looked at Brook for an affirmation.

"Well, it is just a myth, but it is said that eating strange creature with unique ability can add spiritual power and lengthen lifespan. Just like the legend of mermaid," Brook said while gulping. "I don't think that's true though…," he continued.

"Where's Ryuuma… at a time like this?" Zoro felt that the mist became thicker and thicker with something dreadful. He began to feel difficult to breath.

"Ryuuma said he wanted to take care of that monster! Something must have happened to him! This ayakashi is strong enough to break the barrier around Ryuuma's territory!" Chopper's voice was an octave higher. He looked extremely anxious and frightened.

Zoro began to feel worried as well, but Brook reassured them. "Ryuuma-kun isn't that weak. Ayakashi of this level will not be able to defeat him."

"But, why is this thing here then!?" Chopper shouted again before he snapped in realization. "Doctorine…!"

"What?" Zoro looked confused.

"Ryuuma went to save Doctorine first… He didn't meet the ayakashi! The ayakashi drove him out using Doctorine, knowing that I would be without protection if he went out!" Chopper said with an almost crying look.

"That's stupid…! I am still right here," Zoro concentrate more on his sword before unsheathing his Wadou to face whatever was coming at them. "It's a good time to test out my power now. I'll fight him and blast him out using my canon," he smirked excitedly while sweating a bit. The nauseating and headache were almost receding as he controlled the pace of his breath with his pulse. He concentrated on his sword more and it radiated with something refreshing.

_I can do it!_—Zoro ensured himself.

"No, you can't, Zoro-san!" Brook suddenly stood in front of him, interfering.

"Brook!" Zoro widened his eyes in a surprise.

"You don't have enough _haki_ to 'remove' this ayakashi!" Brook warned. "We should run away from here!"

"Haki…!" That's right. Haki was the most necessary element to do a removal, and Zoro hadn't known how to use it. Then he remembered something. "Oh yeah, Smoker said my Wadou has haki! We can use that!"

"No can do! Your sword hasn't restored it enough! You've used the haki in your last encounter with ayakashi. It needs more time before you can used its haki again. Otherwise, your katana will break!" Brook said sternly.

Imagining Wadou break was too much even for Zoro. "Then what should we do!?" Zoro was a bit panicked now. For the last few days he had come to learn how terrifying an ayakashi could be. Without proper arm and protection to face it directly, they wouldn't be able to make it!

"Anyway, we have to run first! After that we'll find Ryuuma-kun to take care of this ayakashi!" Brook said while opening the sliding door. Instantly, a burst of miasma attacked inside the room.

"Bwaaah!" Zoro and Chopper were almost smacked down by the thick biting air.

"Run first, Zoro-san, Chopper-kun! I'll try to stop him!" Brook said while opening his cranial to retrieve a flute?

"What are you going to do with a flute!?" Zoro shouted at him ludicrously, beads of sweat dropping from his cheeks. It wasn't a time to joke around, damn it!

"And how can you keep something like that inside your head!?" Chopper screeched in horror and fascination at the same time.

_That's not the problem here!—_Zoro thought that their conversation had gotten more and more absurd.

"It's okay. Despite being cute and funny, I also have special ability," Brook's voice was strangely reassuring, but calling himself cute was a bit too much. "After all, I taught Ryuuma-kun some of my moves." The flute on his bony hands was glowing slightly as Brook pulled the hilt of the music instrument, revealing a double edged bladed from inside.

_It's a sword!_—Zoro, once again, widened his eyes, eyeballing the weapon in Brook's hand. _And he said he taught some of Ryuuma's techniques? What is he actually?_—he couldn't help wondering seeing the skeleton with afro and a sword try to protect him and Chopper from another ayakashi.

"Hurry up and run," Brook's voice was serious and Zoro gulped at that.

"Come, Chopper!" the green haired boy complied and grabbed Chopper's hand… front foot, or whatever it was called. The reindeer yelped in surprise as Zoro picked him up and ran outside as quickly as he could, while Brook was constantly watched for his back.

Zoro didn't have a good look on the ayakashi that came after him as he was running, but he heard roar and hiss from the battle between the skeleton and the monster.

_Sorry, Brook! I'll definitely come back after finding Ryuuma!_—Zoro ran to the backyard and intended to get out from the back fence, but then he halted again as he passed that storage room. He heard that voice again. No, it was not 'that,' they're 'those.' There were more than one voices. Then, unlike the whisper earlier, this time he could hear they spoke to him very-very clearly.

'_Our name is Sandai Kitetsu.'_

Zoro heard rattling sound from inside the supposedly empty storage together with the strange voice that was speaking inside his head.

_What is… that voice?_—Zoro closed his eyes and concentrated on the voice he heard.

'_If you hear our voice, honorable samurai, wield us'._

_Again…!_

There was a thundering sound on the sky. Dark cloud had gathered and covered most of the sunlight, creating dark heavy atmosphere around. Zoro could feel the sickening feeling climbing up his stomach to his throat again. He knew that the ayakashi was close.

In the midst of panicky, Zoro opened the storage door and entered it, bringing along Chopper and his Wadou Ichi Monji. He closed the wooden door in a slam and locked it. He put Chopper down and kept the shivering reindeer behind his legs as he was watching the door warily. He put a stance of defense, facing the door, ready for any attack.

"Z-Zoro…," Chopper whimpered in dread as heavy blobbing steps were nearing the door.

"It's okay, just be quiet," Zoro said in serious look, not releasing his gaze from the door.

Well, even if he said that, he actually had no idea what to do. It was such a bad decision to enter a narrow place such as that storage. They had no escape route except the door. Yet the doom was waiting for them outside. His katana couldn't be used as well. What made him decide to enter the room actually?

'_Our name is… Sandai Kitetsu.'_

_Again!_—Zoro looked around frantically, searching for the source of the voice. He was sure he heard it from this storage. What was it actually?

A sudden blast of the door made Zoro and Chopper gawk in shocked face. The little reindeer screamed as a figure of monster entered the storage. It had a big bald head with hollow eye sockets. Its color was dark grey and there were weird dark-red sickening substance all over its body, dripping and creating disgusting blob on the wooden floor. Its stomach was flabby and growled very nauseating sounds. It walked by dragging its feet to Zoro and Chopper, reaching its hand while sighing out heavy croaking breath.

_W-what the hell… is that!?_—Zoro clamped his mouth and nose shut with his free hand. The miasma and the visual horror accumulated the nauseating feeling and he wanted to vomit so badly. Not to mention this thing smelled disgusting!

"T-that's… a starving ghost! It's an ayakashi that comes from the rei of people who died on starvation!" Chopper screamed. "Nooo! He comes to eat meee!"

_This is bad…! This is really bad…!_—Zoro stepped back several steps while Chopper was still running around behind him. _What should I do?_

As he stepped back again, his leg bumped something. He looked down behind and found the small table with the sword on top of it. He widened his eyes for a second as he could have sworn the katana rattled. "Huh?"

"_Hungry… Eat… need to… eat…! I'll eat you…!"_

Zoro snapped back to the ayakashi as he heard its voice. It was trying to reach its hand at him!

_Shit—!_

Zoro was about to hit the thing with his Wadou, but the katana was caught by that disgusting hand! "Fuck!" Then he heard that voice again.

'_My name is Sandai Kitetsu.'_

The rattling of the katana behind him increased. On instinct, Zoro tried to grab anything that could be used as a weapon. He wouldn't let his Wadou get broken by that nasty monster.

'_If you hear our voice, honorable samurai, wield us'._

Zoro still heard that voice as he reached for the cursed blade behind him.

'_Then we'll make you our new master.'_

Zoro's neck then was caught by that monster's hand and the sick nauseating feeling was unbearable. He choked as he was strangled by it. It was painful and he couldn't breathe.

"I won't… die…!" Yet Zoro was still stubborn. He tried his best to reach for the blade and when he touched the hilt, he felt a strange pulse and a sudden crack appeared on the chain of letters that surrounded the table. Zoro then grabbed and pulled the katana out of its sheath.

'_Wield us… and you'll be able to obtain power to destroy everything!'_

Zoro roared and exerted the sword above his head before he slashed the hand that strangled him, cutting it clean. The monster shrieked painfully and let go of his clutch from Wadou. It also moved a few steps back. Zoro fell on the floor while coughing madly, trying to catch his breath. He gripped the cursed katana strongly on his left hand, while trying to secure his Wadou on his chest.

"Zoro!" Chopper shouted at him worriedly.

"I-it's okay…! I am okay…!" Zoro was still trying to pace his breaths as he gazed at the cursed katana. "It seems… you already chose me, huh?" he spoke to the katana with a smirk, even though his expression was contorted with dreadful feeling of the residue of that starving-monster on his skin.

Zoro felt the pulsating of the katana once again. Strangely, the hilt felt warm, like a human's skin. The pulses also beat in resonance, humming, as it created rhythm with his heartbeat. A secured feeling enveloped Zoro as he knew that it recognized him as its wielder. Moreover, it could cut the monster as well. What a bonus. Zoro still didn't know why it could cut a thing that technically didn't have physical body, but it didn't matter. Zoro could cut that thing with this blade and it was more than enough for now. Explanation could wait for later.

Zoro stood, put Wadou securely on the table and took the cursed sword sheath with him. Then once again he faced the monster that was still shrieking painfully because of the wound inflicted by his weapon. Zoro sheathed the sword and readied a stance. He held the sheath with left hand, the hilt of the sword with right hand, and slightly bowed his body up front.

"_Ittō-Ryū…,_" Zoro placed the sheathed sword up front and tried to hear the 'breath' of the monster in front of him. The moment he heard the 'breath,' he sharpened his eyes and attack. "_Iai: Shishi Sonson (3)_!" He unsheathed the katana in an unbelievable speed while running at the monster and slashed its body diagonally from bottom to top, inflicting a deadly wound on the monster before rapidly sheathing the sword again. The starving ghost shrieked again painfully before it turned into black smoke, and short time later, was sucked by the tip of the sheathed katana. The gold lace of the dark sheath glowed mysteriously before it came back to its normal color again. Zoro was really surprised at that.

"What the… hell?" Zoro couldn't help looking at the katana with dumbfounded look.

"Tha… that was awesome, Zoro! You're so strong!" Chopper looked at Zoro with sparkling eyes.

"Uh… I don't really get what happened either…," Zoro mumbled as he stared at the cursed sword more. It didn't pulse anymore, but the lingering of warmth was still there.

_Weird katana… but… like I thought, it's a good one_—Zoro smiled at it in a pleased look.

**ZORO—RORONOA—ZORO**

"I'll give it to you," Ryuuma said as everyone was sitting on the living room once again.

There was a brief silence again before "Eeeeh!?" Brook and Zoro screeched in unison. Chopper only stared at them in confused look and an old woman (Zoro got a kick in his head when he called her old) raised her eyebrow at the youngsters in front of her.

"Ryuuma-kun! That's…!" Brook was really shocked.

"Is that really okay!?" Zoro was ecstatic.

"It's okay. It already chose Zoro as its new master. Even though he left it here, it would eventually reach him again soon," Ryuuma said with a carefree look.

"But, Ryuuma-kun! That sword is too dangerous! How many masters died on its blade do you think!?" Brook disagreed vehemently. Zoro was still 17, and he didn't want to see another youngster went mad because of the cursed thing.

"Don't get so worked up, Brook. Zoro is different from _you_," Ryuuma said and Brook snapped at that. He went still after that. Zoro couldn't catch what that was about, but he got an ominous feeling that it wasn't good at all. He didn't dare ask about that though. "Besides, what do you feel when you hold it, Zoro?" Ryuuma now faced him.

"Eh? Um…," Zoro snapped from his thought and answered. "I feel like holding someone's hand. It's warm and… uh, pulsing?" he said quickly after thinking for a bit.

"See, that sword indeed chose him," Ryuuma said. "Otherwise, he would have been bedridden now because his rei had been sucked out," he continued.

"That sword sucks out rei?" Chopper was really surprised and Zoro gawked at that.

"That's right. This, Sandai Kitetsu, was a cursed sword, molded by a very well-known genius crazy blacksmith. It was actually intended to be a sacred sword, served for a god's sacrificial ceremony, but the crazy blacksmith killed all the priests with that sword by beheading every single one of them. As it reached the thousandth victim, it was cursed by the reis of those whose blood was soaked on it. Since then, everyone who wielded this sword always died a horrible death. This thing sucked their life energy, their rei, bit by bit until they died." Ryuuma said, retelling the story he heard once.

"That… sounds just like a scary bedtime tale," the old lady whose real name was Kureha—but Chopper called her Doctorine—, looked skeptical at the story.

"You… still don't believe of supernatural beings despite what you've gone through?" Ryuuma looked at the old lady with a bead of sweat on his cheek, face faulting.

"Every phenomenon always has a scientific explanation," she said with a confident look. "I don't say I don't believe in spirit or something supernatural," she looked at Brook observantly and very-very interestedly. The skeleton turned his face away, feeling a dreadful omen that he would become her experiment subject or something. "But, death-curses? They probably got sick because of the bacteria or viruses that reside on that old sword," she huffed.

"Doctorine…," Chopper looked awkward at her opinion. Zoro didn't say anything and Brook just laughed slightly.

"That… makes more sense," Ryuuma said in a flat tone, deadpanned. "Well, the ability of the sword is real though. Zoro and Chopper saw it, right?"

Zoro and Chopper nodded at that. "It sucked the monster in," Zoro said.

"And it can actually cut the ayakashi. I've never heard any object could actually touch rei, let alone cut it," Chopper said in fascination.

"That's why it's a cursed object," Ryuuma sniggered.

Brook, Zoro, Chopper and Kureha looked at Ryuuma with ridiculous expression.

"Okay, maybe I will go amuse myself outside." Kureha stood up. "I've had enough with this…'curse' talk," she rolled her eyes and walked outside.

"Ah, wait for me, Doctorine! I am coming with you!" Chopper hurriedly stood and went after her.

"Maybe I'll make some tea for Ryuuma-kun and Zoro-san," Brook also excused himself with a tone that sounded a bit… down in Zoro's ear, but he quickly dismissed the thought as he saw his new possession.

"So… Kitetsu also possesses _haki_ to remove ayakashi…," Zoro nodded in understanding after that, stroking the black sheathed katana on his hand adoringly.

"No, Kitetsu's power is far different from haki," Ryuuma corrected him. "Haki works like a barrier. It can't be touched by beings such as rei and ayakashi. It's often infused into o-fuda," he said. Zoro looked at him in dumbfounded look. "An anti-evil charm; you can find it in every temple in Japan," he continued explaining.

"Oh…," Zoro nodded slightly. "Then, what's different?" he asked more.

"Kitetsu's power is not an anti-evil. The sword itself is an evil thing. It's more evil than the ayakashi that it's able to devour them to be part of its power." Ryuuma explained.

"I see…. You get rid off the creepy sword by giving it to me," Zoro looked at his mentor with suspecting gaze.

"As if you would mind that; you're happy to get your hands on it," Ryuuma said with brazen expression. Zoro couldn't hold down his smug grin as he heard that.

"Well, I don't mind indeed. I have confidence and luck that will conquer even this sword evil power. But, I want to learn to use haki as well. It's tiring having those un-living beings flock to me all the time. If I have an anti-evil power, they won't come near me, right?" Zoro asked again, a bit excited of the prospect.

"No, that's impossible," Ryuuma responded immediately. "Haki is _inborn_ talent. It can't be studied or practiced," he continued.

"Eeh!? Then I can't learn to do a removal!?" Zoro looked extremely disappointed.

"Smoker sent you here not to learn to do a removal," Ryuuma said the matter of fact. "He wanted me to help you understand your ability and use it the right way," he added.

"Smoker…?" Zoro looked surprised. "That's right… he also can see things… Eh, he can use haki, right? He can remove Kuro," he looked outside the door, not realizing that Ryuuma was staring at him intently.

"That name again," Ryuuma said after a moment of silence.

"Huh?" Zoro turned his face at Ryuuma in a confused look.

"'Kuro;' I heard that name a lot since you came here. Who is he? Does he have any connection in your eagerness to learn all of these?" Ryuuma asked slowly.

Zoro looked at Ryuuma in silence for a moment before he looked down at his knee. "He was… a rei, and I couldn't help him fast enough until he was turning into ayakashi. Smoker removed him," he spoke slowly.

"I see…," Ryuuma said with unreadable expression.

"I… heard and saw his feelings. It was… truly painful," Zoro confessed slightly, remembering his last connection. "Yet after the trouble of connecting, I still didn't help him or anything. After the painful experience, he still turned into ayakashi and Smoker had to remove him permanently. If only… we didn't connect at all and simply just removed him, wouldn't it be less painful?"

_Knowing but unable to making it better… it would be better if I didn't know at all…._

"Don't say things like that in front of Smoker," Ryuuma said slowly after that. Zoro looked up at him in a surprise. "Your gift… Smoker would kill for something like that. Too bad he was born with haki so strong that those beings can't even get near him less than a meter. If he could hear them, he would know why they're murdered or why they died and then could help them by catching their murderer or fixing things that get those victims killed. He could help them finish their unfinished business so those rei could go to the other side."

"Smoker… even though he can't hear, he still tries his best to help them," Zoro said with a small smile.

"He's a stubborn ass like that," Ryuuma agreed with a smirk. "But he wanted to understand them more. You…, even though you think you can't help them physically, you still can understand them with your ability. I think listening to them and sharing their experience are also included in helping category," he continued while grinning at Zoro now.

"I see," Zoro also grinned as he felt somehow more refreshed than before. "Then… what tips you can give me so I can maximize the usage of my ability, _Sishou_?" he asked with respectful tone now, to his mentor.

"Firstly, to make you get used to the connecting. I'll train you harder than before, Roronoa Zoro-kun," Ryuuma grinned evilly at him now, promising a hell painful lesson for him to learn.

"Eekh, you still have more extreme way of training?" Zoro paled slightly at that.

"Well, of course; don't forget this is a hell of training," Ryuuma laughed creepily and Zoro thought the most evil thing in this world was his mentor himself.

**End of Chapter 5**

**Tbc…

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**Note:**

**1)**_**Sishou**_**:** it's almost the same as 'sensei,' how to call a teacher, but _sishou_ is more specific, like for a trainer. Usually it's only used in martial arts world. Sensei is how to call people with an expertise, not only in martial arts, but also in other studies. It's more general than _sishou_.

**2)**_**Tanuki**_**: **it's a raccoon-like animal with hairy black-grey fur. This type of animal in Japan is believed to have spiritual power sometimes. It can disguise himself as human if it has enough power.

**3)**_**Ittō-Ryū Iai: Shishi Sonson**_**: **One Sword Style, Draw and Re-sheath Technique: Lion's Song. One of Zoro's techniques; he used it to defeat Mr. 1 (taken from One Piece Wikipedia).

**A/N: **D-done… *panting* _Bloody hell_, it's almost 12000 words… I didn't even know I was capable of writing a chapter this long… I prayed that you didn't get tired reading such a long chapter. Sorry for that. Uuh, I need to describe a lot of things here. That's why the words got so… out of hand. And I haven't explained anything about Brook and Chopper as well T_T. Maybe in next chapter. And if you noticed, I used Ryuuma here. Yeah…, Samurai Ryuuma 'the dragon slayer,' as Zoro's mentor XDDD; his character might be a bit off because I only know him from One Piece. I don't read "Wanted." Well, he should have at least had black hair and eyes (since he was from Wano-kuni… and I am sure it's in Japan anyway), but his long hair was my own creation since Ryuuma in One Piece didn't have long hair.

Anyway, the good news is, Sanji will come up in next chapter XD *spoiler* I know you've been waiting of his appearance… That's why; he is sooo going to appear in next chapter! Along with Luffy and the rest of Mugiwara's crew XD. Okay, I think that's all I want to tell you for now anyway. I need sleep so badly now… So, uh… comments will be very-very much appreciated. See you in next chapter?

With Love,

Lunaryu~~~


	6. Shaman Part 1

**A/N: **Uuh... *scratches her cheek guiltily* I'm very sorry for being late to post this. I should have posted it last Saturday, but I was upset so much after reading the latest chapter of One Piece that I didn't even want to touch internet for three days… I am glad I finally feel better after some cursings, shreding and stabbing Akainu picture (I hate him very much right now), uh... my apologize, I am getting carried away again. Well, so, I decided to stop moping around and get my ass move to post this today. Here it is, The Connector Chapter 6! Enjoy XD

**Disclaimer: Odachi owns One Piece XD**

**Warning: **_just like the previous ones…, AU, possible of oOC-ness, horrible images… oh, and I mess up a little with the characters' origin, forgive me for that...

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**The Connector**

**Chapter 6: **_**Shaman (Part 1)**_

_I love you…_

_I really love you…_

_That's why, please…_

_I want you to fall in love with me as well…_

_I want to see you… Zoro-sama (1)… _

**ZORO—RORONOA—ZORO**

In the middle of the night…, Zoro was sneaking around inside Ryuuma's Residence.

_It's now or never…—_the young green haired teen thought silently as he walked without any sound to the storage to retrieve Sandai Kitetsu from his seal. His other katana, Wadou, of course, was safe in her case, on his left hand. A dark green duffle bag, filled with clothes and things he had brought with him when he arrived in this house for the first time, was on his right shoulder.

That's right. Zoro wanted to run away from this place or he would never come back to the world outside alive.

Now Zoro could kind of understand why Smoker ran away from Ryuuma all those years ago. His mentor was fucking crazy, that's why. Who would actually force his own pupil to smash a lair of ayakashi alone in the night on a fucking full moon where their _evilness_ was in the strongest form? Even using Sandai Kitetsu, it was too much! He almost got shredded by a _Bakeneko _(2), an ayakashi which came from rei of human who died with nasty grudge, twice already (one from Kuro back then, and one from this _thing _in that lair), and almost got gobbled up fully by the starving ghosts (he couldn't even imagine how many of them inside), in short, he almost died _again_.

There were so many ayakashi inside the lair that Zoro couldn't even count them, let alone distinct one from the others. Some ayakashi even disguised themselves, taking shapes of the animals, the carnivore ones such as tiger and wolf. Didn't they know that Japanese wolf was extinct already? Some slutty ayakashi took a shape of the snakes, and the cunning one appeared like a fucking fox.

And that wasn't the worst part. Since apparently, in Ryuuma's thick _twisted _head, it was just some kind of training to get used to Sandai Kitetsu's negative energy. _Asshole_. Why didn't he try doing it by himself then? He was just having fun seeing Zoro's misery.

The rumored dragon slayer also taught Zoro some crazy techniques, which apparently, were useful to bind spirits err… rei and ayakashi, he told Zoro, once he could do it right; but of course, Zoro _couldn't_ since he didn't have enough spiritual energy to bind them, and some bizarre chants that Zoro couldn't even remember, and more-more works of purifying his own soul.

_Purifying soul…_ That term alone didn't sit quite right in Zoro's mind. Did Ryuuma mistake him for a _monk-in-training_ or something? He didn't want tobe a fucking sacred guy!

That's why; Zoro had had enough of this farce. He would go home… to Smoker's house. As far as he wanted to go home to his own house, he still needed more information about that _demon's lair_. There were too many rei inside his house. He had to do something about them first… later on.

So, with a resolution to go away from that outlandish place, in his mind that was, Zoro sneaked out the house slowly, not wanting to alarm Ryuuma or Chopper and Kureha. Yep, both Chopper and Kureha stayed with Ryuuma for the time being; at least until Ryuuma fixed the barrier and expanded the border until it covered Kureha and Chopper's place. It wasn't safe on that mountain without barrier. Ayakashi were roaming around and could do more harms to them.

Anyway, in these past days, Zoro had begun to know those people, who stayed with him, more. Some general data and personal information enough to be acquaintances, but was still too minimal to be actual _friends_. At least Zoro knew Kureha was a doctor, a very _good _one, actually. He didn't know the exact reason why she lived in a secluded place like Mount Fuji, but from the situation, he guessed it had something to do with Chopper's unusual ability.

Well, or maybe it was because of her own damn fault. She already appeared like an _ayakashi_ after all. Oh, and Zoro didn't forget that she was exceedingly _healthy. _Too healthy even, in Zoro's mind. She must have been over seventy… or so, he thought _at first_. He almost had a heart attack when he learned the truth from Chopper.

Kureha was already 139 year old that year.

_A fucking crazy old granny to boot—_Zoro thought; she was more extreme than Ryuuma in some ways. Well, when she patched Zoro up, he thought he was about to get butchered as well at some point. She was as scary as fuck.

The next _person_ he came to know and _like_ was Chopper. Well, he… err…, 'it' or _whatever_, Chopper insisted to be referred as 'he' anyway, so he would just call him 'he.' Chopper turned out to be a very rare and _clever_ animal.

If Zoro said clever, it was like… an _Einstein_ like clever. Chopper could read like a human, and he was given enough brain capacity to remember difficult formulas and terms Zoro didn't even know how to spell them. No wonder he had a big _disproportional _head compared to his small body. So, in short, Chopper was smarter than Zoro.

Chopper said he wanted to become a doctor and _hell_, Zoro might be nuts, but he thought the tanuki-reindeer might be able to work it out just fine with that brain of his. Plus, with Kureha as an educator too.

But the best part about Chopper that Zoro came to like was… he could understand people's feeling. Zoro smiled as he thought about it. In these past days, Zoro felt really good and content when he spoke to the reindeer. Chopper listened well and gave him full attention. Then sometimes he spoke out his thought and gave Zoro small advices as well. And he was cute too. It might sound strange for Zoro to actually consider something _cute_, but he couldn't deny it this time. Just looking at those big round caramel eyes and ruffling his soft fur, Zoro felt like… well, relieved in a strange way. It was like… the softness and the warmth that worked like a natural tranquilizer to Zoro; they eased him. He couldn't really explain the feeling with words, but he definitely like that feeling, just like… _miracles_.

_Miracles do happen sometimes…—_Zoro thought silently in a nervous smile, sweat dropping. He began to sound like his doctor back at the hospital who considered the oddity happening around Zoro when he was hospitalized as _miracles_. Well, he coming back to life after being dead for an hour was a miracle _enough_ though… but the _miracles _that happened after that didn't exactly feel like miracles to Zoro, since his _normal_ life was forcefully ripped away from him, and he was thrown into a _bizarre_ un-living being world.

Zoro sighed slightly in defeat as he thought _why him?_

Musing about things he didn't understand what the answers were, was ticking Zoro off. He didn't like the uncertainty. There must have been some purposes of why he was given a _sweet _second chance to live, and with a _bonus_ as a topping. So, he planned to figure that out… after he got out from this _confine_.

Zoro was about to get out from Ryuuma's residence fence after retrieving Sandai Kitetsu, when something was suddenly pointed at the back of his neck. He froze on the spot, feeling a very-very bad atmosphere around him growing rapidly.

"Where do you think you're going in the middle of the night, Zoro-kun?"

A _sickeningly_ sweet, deep voice made Zoro's body hair stand and a shiver run down his spine. The color began to drain from his face as well as he noticed who it was. And it was worse because that person used that unusual way to call his name.

_Absolutely_… _screwed_—Zoro thought; completely defeated. It was Ryuuma, and he sounded irritated, plus with his mighty big long black katana, _Shuusui,_ on Zoro's neck.

"Uuh…, a night walk?" Zoro prayed to anything out there to just come out and save him from the punishment he was _sure_ as hell coming to him after this, since he knew that his excuse was totally lame and _unbelievable_.

"Maybe another raid to _demon's lair_ will be an interesting distraction," Ryuuma smiled in that 'I am sooo angry I can't even make an angry face' kind of smile, and his eyebrows twitched dangerously as well.

"Oh, _GOD…_!" If it made even Zoro call god's name, it was obvious that… Zoro was definitely a goner.

**ZORO—RORONOA—ZORO**

"So, what makes you want to run away from _me_, Zoro-kun?" Ryuuma couldn't have been more _pissed off_ than right now. His pupil… right in front of his nose, was trying to run away from him, without even asking for permission or at least giving a _fucking easy_ farewell declaration.

And the fact that it had happened for the second time, after that damn Smoker, pissed Ryuuma off even more, a mighty one if he wanted to exaggerate it. If not that, the fact that Zoro thought Ryuuma wouldn't notice him leaving, with that bursting presence of his, injured Ryuuma's pride as well. Damn immature brat!

"Well, let say it was the same reason as Smoker's," Zoro spoke slowly, looking away and sweating profoundly.

"It _was_?Wanting to sugarcoat the words a little, aren't you, _brat_?" Menacing aura was flaring from his body and Ryuuma almost laugh at the face of the green haired brat in front of him. He wouldn't even surprise if he made the brat piss on his pants. He should have had a camera on his hand right now to make a _trophy_.

"Okay! Okay! Just… will you stop that!?" Zoro shouted looking completely _scarred_ for life. "Jeez…," he sighed as Ryuuma eased his _air_ a bit. "It's technical reason," he said slowly. "I've been out of school for almost two months now. The school will definitely not appreciate it if I have to take another _month_ to rest. If my attendance is not enough, I have to repeat a year and I _definitely_ don't want to repeat a year," he explained with a huff.

"Technical, huh?" Ryuuma knew Zoro wasn't telling everything, but that reason was _reasonable_ enough. Despite his immaturity in _this world_, it seemed Zoro had good predisposition and responsibility. He was indeed still a student and a student's job was to attend school and study. "Good enough," he said.

"Eh?" Zoro widened his eyes and looked at Ryuuma in a disbelieving expression. "Huh?" He even looked confused.

"I said, your reason is good enough for me to let you go," Ryuuma repeated and completed his sentence while setting a softer expression.

"Oh… yeah, of course; I am still a student, you know; and I'd disappointed my dad… uh," Zoro shook his head slightly, "I mean, my father, once, I don't think I want to disappoint him again by repeating a year in high school," he continued with a serious, determined look.

"Okay," Ryuuma said. "But at least, you could say something before leaving," he added while making a pitiful look.

"Sorry, I didn't think you would even consider something so trivial like that…," Zoro scratched his head sheepishly.

"It's okay for leaving this place early even though you still have so many things to learn and to know about this… _world_, but I won't stop you. Just… do me a favor not to go in the middle of the night. I don't want to pick up your bones after you're eaten by ayakashi," Ryuuma said with a mocking tone.

Zoro looked offended at that. "As if I would," he gritted his teeth in annoyance.

"Oh, and before you go, just do me one more favor." Ryuuma added, earning an inquiring expression from his pupil. "It's a test to see whether you're ready or not to face the world outside," he continued with a mysterious smile.

There was a brief silence before Zoro "A test?" asked with a dumbfounded look.

**ZORO—RORONOA—ZORO**

"So…," a tick popped up above Zoro's right eyebrow. "You want me to do _what_, exactly? Moreover… what the hell is this place!?" Zoro practically shouted at his mentor as Ryuuma brought him to a very creepy looking valley, and now they were in front of a very big _black_ cave which was clearly _not safe_, looked from very aspect.

"Oh, this? This place was once called the Valley of End," Ryuuma said while stroking his long hair and tucked it neatly behind his ear. Might be, he forgot to tie it again after taking a bath or something.

"Once? What's with the creepy name?" Zoro demanded an explanation. Such ill-feeling name should have had a history… and a nasty one, he guessed.

Ryuuma smirked. "You're not going to like the story, brat," he said with a teasing tone.

"Try me," Zoro insisted. He wasn't a fucking sassy who got scared over a ghost story after all.

"When we're still at war, many fights took place in this kind of mountain, especially Mount Fuji which becomes Japanese proudly prized symbol. Many deaths should create many lifeless bodies everywhere. What will you do if you're in charge of taking care of those?" Ryuuma asked while setting a mischief looking expression.

"Aah? Of course I'll dump it somewhere…!" Zoro widened his eyes as a thought crossed his mind. "Impossible… this valley was… a place to dump their remains?" He looked below his feet immediately, expecting to find bones or skulls or something; well, of course there was nothing.

"Heh, that wasn't the best part. Now, things get sweeter. After so long swiping around, why do you think our government has never found any of them even with the most sophisticated technology?" Ryuuma asked again, his smirk wider than before.

"Eh…, uh…," Zoro thought for about three minutes before he realized. "Hey, if higher people don't even know about that, how come do you expect me to know?" he protested a bit. Ryuuma was making fun of him again.

Ryuuma just closed his eyes and tilted his face at the dark cave in front of them.

"Huh?" Zoro turned his face at the cave as well and suddenly, a very cold feeling was slowly creeping inside his gut. "Are you telling me they were…!" he pointed his shaky (no way!) forefinger at the cave with unbelievably pale face.

Ryuuma widened his smirk even more. "Now, will you go inside and pick something for me? It's an urn filled with delicious sake."

Zoro set a ridiculous expression at Ryuuma. "Are you a moron? No way would I want to go there after hearing such thing," he said. Indeed, his mentor was _nucking futs_. This place had no different from those demons lairs he had kept destroying these past nights. Did he seriously think Zoro would do whatever he wanted without complaining? There must have been a screw or two missing from his head if he indeed thought that.

"I never said the bodies were stocked up in there," Ryuuma lifted his eyebrows.

"That's so fucking obvious, my honorable _Sishou_," Zoro said while gritting his teeth, very annoyed.

"Just go inside and bring me an urn, Zoro-kun. There's no ayakashi there, I promise," Ryuuma said again, daring and once again he used that 'Zoro-kun' crap, treating him like a fucking kid. It almost made Zoro Goosebumps.

"I absolutely _won't_ go in there," Zoro said stubbornly with a challenging look. If Ryuuma decided to punish him, he would fight to death!

"Oh… was that _fear_ I heard just now?" Ryuuma sang with a mocking tone that just froze Zoro's resolution and cracked it effectively.

"Excuse me?" Zoro made a funny expression as he confronted his mentor, very pissed off. "I won't bite the bait, _Sishou_. Do you take me for an idiot?"

"Yeah, you can say whatever you want, lo~ser." Ryuuma repeated his sing-song with that fucking annoying smirk on his face, and the last vein called patience snapped from Zoro's mind.

_That's it._

"I'll make you lick back your own spit, _Sishou_," Zoro hissed with the various ticks on his forehead. New resolution was born in him because of Ryuuma's silver tongue, Zoro realized; he had been set up obviously. But, he would definitely bring back an urn or even _ten_ to drown that fucking bastard in his stupid sake.

_And maybe I will taste the glory by taking a gulp of that oh-so-fantastic sake from the circle of dead bodies. _

God, Zoro wanted to throw up. The mental image was too sick even for him.

In the end Zoro decided to go inside the cave. No, he wasn't scared. After what he had seen these past days, nothing would scare him off anymore. He only disliked the feeling when those ayakashi were around. Making him sick most of the time, but sometimes… he could also catch human feelings, especially from the newborns ayakashi. At that point, he usually got influenced; and he hated it most when he had to see and feel the suffering and the memories. Because he knew, yet he couldn't do anything about that. The crushing weight of responsibility nested in his stomach like fucking moths and their flipper-flapper wings that wanted to burst out.

Really, how Zoro would survive with that kind of feeling every time he would face them? He still didn't know the answer until now. Maybe, he should become a cold hearted bastard and just not feel. That would be much easier.

"Zoro." His mentor voice brought Zoro back to reality. He snapped slightly and looked behind. "Whatever gets inside your feeling in there, you shouldn't respond to it," he said. "Or… you'll disappear."

Zoro didn't know how to react to that warning, but then he chuckled. "I won't. Because… I myself have an unfinished business in this world, _Sishou_," he smirked with confidence and Ryuuma threw a small smile at him.

"Wish your luck," was heard from Ryuuma when Zoro brazened himself and entered the cave.

A minute later, the lights of outer world was off, stealing his eyesight. Two minutes later, voices of every organism started to disappear, terminating his hearing. Then, three minutes later… every sensation was numbed from his system, deaden his feeling.

And a few minutes later on… Zoro had been empty.

**ZORO—RORONOA—ZORO**

Smoker's cell-phone rang. The Colonel blinked slightly as he just signed another paper on his desk. He tried to find his phone, but he couldn't find the troublesome thing.

"Here," a woman with short dark hair offered the cell in front of his face while fixing the position of the square-framed glasses that looked just too big for her face.

"Thanks," Smoker said as he picked up the phone, "-and Tashigi, would you just change your glasses with the one which fits your face well?" he asked for a hundredth times since their first meeting, but she was just too strong-willed or just too stubborn for her own good; she never changed the _damn _thing.

"In the process, sir," Tashigi said, shrugging slightly and Smoker just sighed before dismissing her. The girl slowly went back to her seat, after tripping on her own foot twice and clumsily bowing 'excuse me' to him before she settled down.

_How come I get stuck with her anyway?_—Smoker thought slightly in distress. He sighed again and punched the 'yes' button to answer the call.

"Hello, Colonel Smoker here," he greeted and identified himself.

"Hey, it's your honorable _ex-Sishou_, Smoker," Ryuuma's voice spoke from the opposite line.

"Ryuuma? I thought you didn't own a cell-phone," Smoker said, raising his brow, and stood, turning his body to face the window behind him. That was just fucking weird. Ryuuma actually called him?

"Yeah, but I don't call from a cell-phone, genius," Ryuuma said and Smoker had a funny feeling that his ex-teacher rolling his eyes when he said that.

"Uh… from a payphone, then; I can't believe you would actually climb-down the mountain just to make a call," Smoker made a wondering look, picturing his teacher in a payphone. Was he really able to use it without breaking it first? Smoker always thought his ex-teacher was like… a mammoth of technology; or something on that line because he lived in such secluded place. There was no radio, no television, and definitely no newspaper. How Ryuuma could follow the world outside progress, he didn't know. He hadn't had a chance to ask, that's why.

"It's just close by," Ryuuma spoke slowly, "after all, we're in Womb Cave," he continued and Smoker widened his eyes as he heard that.

"You're kidding," Honestly, Smoker didn't believe that. And he spoke more loudly than he had intended that it alerted even his companion in the room.

"Sir, is everything okay?" Tashigi asked from her seat in a concerned expression.

Smoker turned his face at his subordinate for a moment, and nodded slightly before turned back and spoke more with a lower volume. "But he's been only there for a month. Isn't that a little too soon?"

"It is, actually. But the brat whined that he wanted to go home, so I took the liberty to test his _container_," Ryuma answered with a flat bored tone.

"Well, I have strong haki and I can't feel them, so I was fine back then. But Zoro…, are you sure he will be okay?" Smoker asked again more worriedly… for himself actually. He would be castrated by the other Roronoas if something bad happened to Zoro.

"The worst part? He can end up crazy," Ryuuma said and Smoker could almost see his damn ex-teacher was smirking in mischief, enjoying torturing his mind like that.

Smoker went a bit pale. "Are you trying to _kill_ me, _Sishou_?" Smoker emphasized some words and deepened his tone in that threatening-murder-like look. But of course, Ryuuma couldn't see that. Too bad. Sometimes Smoker wanted to scare the hell out of him. Even though, he wasn't so sure it would be a success attempt.

"You're kidding? You're the one who said the boy was a fighter, Smoker. He will be just fine… maybe." Ryuuma spoke again with that teasing tone.

"Maybe…. _Maybe!?_" Really, Smoker should just kill the bastard.

"Okay, probably," Ryuuma corrected.

"That's not good enough to assure me, Ryuuma!" Smoker almost shouted as this point.

"Sir?" Tashigi yelped a bit at her superior's sudden loud voice.

Smoker turned his angry face at her. "I am fine, okay? Just… do your job!" now he shouted at her.

"Yes!" she yelped and shut up afterward.

"Poor girl…," Ryuuma commented from the phone.

"Shut up. Whose fault do you think it is?" Smoker growled at him, slightly blushing both in anger and in shame. "Anyway, I'll pick the boy up today after I finish my work. Make sure he is _okay_ and in _one piece_ when I get there," he said threateningly.

"I can't really promise anything," Ryuuma responded slowly and Smoker could have sworn he could see him shrug.

"You should be," Smoker said, then cut the line. He sighed and put the cell on his desk before he sat down again on his chair. "Just great," he rolled his eyes before eyeing the piling paperwork beside his elbow.

_Can I really finish all of these before picking that boy up?_—Smoker thought silently in distress.

"Sir?" Tashigi called him again and he glanced at her.

"What?"

"Uuh, Chief Garp is calling you," Tashigi said nervously.

"You can say that earlier," Smoker made an annoyed face, stood and walked to the door.

"Yeah, but you're on the phone…,"

Smoker didn't care what she was muttering about and went out to the Chief's room.

**ZORO—RORONOA—ZORO**

_Where is… this place?_

He opened his eyes… no; he thought he opened his eyes, but there was only darkness surrounding him.

_Surrounding?_

He didn't know. He couldn't hear anything. He was just… flowing, wasn't he? He didn't understand. He didn't feel anything as well. No sensation everywhere. No touch, no cold, it was just… nothing.

_Who… am I?_

He tried to ask himself. Did he voice that out or just thought about it? Did he really exist?

_Why… am I here?_

Again, he asked himself. Did he have a purpose?

_Why… can't I feel anything?_

He didn't know the answer. He didn't remember. Yet, one thing he could be certain. He was there. Even though he didn't have any shape, even though he couldn't see, couldn't hear and couldn't feel; he was conscious. He was there.

There must have been a purpose why he was there.

Something…

_Try to remember._

Was that his thought or his voice? Or… was it something else?

_Eh…?_

Then a light began to appear. No, not a light, but dozens of tiny white sparkling dots. He tried to reach the dots, but they just flew away. _Fireflies?_

Then slowly, those tiny dots of lights began to diverse on front of him, creating a certain picture he had ever seen somewhere… yet he couldn't remember when.

**ZORO—RORONOA—ZORO**

Ryuuma was waiting patiently in front of the cave while smoking his pipe. "It's later than I expected," he said slowly as he moved to find a better position to sit on the big rock. He leaned against the dead tree behind the rock and looked at another direction, other than the cave. Every tree in nearby area was dried up.

_They weren't stocked up inside that cave, Zoro_—he thought slightly before he pat the tree on his back. _They turned into something else after hundreds and thousands years…_

Ryuuma was alerted when he heard bristly dragged sounds coming from the cave entrance. He turned his face at the cave and found… Zoro, holding an urn of _sake_ and looking extremely indifferent?

"Zoro," Ryuuma practically jumped down from the rock before walking hurriedly to his pupil. "Hey," he greeted slightly before Zoro suddenly offered the urn to him.

"The sake, you want it, right?" The green haired boy asked slowly.

"Are you okay?" Ryuuma asked while accepting the urn.

"Yes…," Zoro said slowly, closing his eyes before a single tear escaped from his left one. "Yes…."

Ryuuma smiled small and reached his hand out to ruffle the boy's hair. "Come, let's clean yourself, and Smoker will pick you up after that," he said letting Zoro lean on him when they walked back to the house.

Zoro didn't say anything. He didn't even make any sound, but Ryuuma understood by holding the teen. His body was slightly trembling and he closed his eyes the whole time. They boy must have seen something so overwhelming inside the cave. Ryuuma wouldn't ask what he saw because it was personal for each person. But one thing Ryuuma knew, Zoro was holding back his tears and his feelings for sure.

_Stupid kid… why doesn't he just cry and pour out his feelings?_—Ryuuma thought silently trying hard not to shake his head. Did he feel afraid Ryuuma would make fun of it?

Well, even if it was Ryuuma, he wouldn't make fun of something like that. He wasn't a heartless bastard and he knew how extreme that cave could be for someone… especially a kid. Zoro was still just a 17 year old kid. He was allowed to cry and lean on someone else if he needed to.

Short time later, they were back on Ryuuma's residence. Ryuuma made sure no one saw them until he delivered Zoro safely to the bathroom.

"Brook will make something delicious for supper. Any special request?" he asked the boy from the door as Zoro stripped his clothes, still in silence.

Zoro didn't look at Ryuuma's face and didn't say anything for the first few minutes before he said "Onigiri… with salmon's filling," with flat tone.

_There is no salmon in this season, dimwit_—Ryuuma wanted to retort with a tick above his right eyebrow, but he just coughed slightly.

"Okay, the _salmon_ filling is _difficult_, but I'll see if we stock something up _last year_," Ryuuma said before he walked up and closed the door. "Jeez, youngster," He rolled his eyes and went to find Brook and a _salmon _if he could find any… somewhere.

**ZORO—RORONOA—ZORO**

"What is this cut?" Chopper looked at the cutting wounds on Zoro's arms and hands curiously when Zoro was trying to dress up in his room. The little tanuki-reindeer just went inside to hide from Brook. Apparently they're playing hide and seek.

"Huh?" Zoro's mind was not in its usual place, so he was a bit startled when the reindeer walked up to him and hoped on his shoulder so suddenly. "Oh, those…. They're from the training I went through when I was still very young… seven? No, eight year old, perhaps," he spoke lightly.

"Ooh," Chopper made an awed sound. "What about this one here?" he then touched the long scar on Zoro's chest, making an amazed sound, probably thinking how he could still be alive with that kind of scar.

"That? That was because of my stupidity for thinking I could change my life by winning a _fight_," Zoro chuckled. It was ironic, actually. That wound indeed changed his life forever, though it was not the way he wanted. After all, he died once because of that. But then he miraculously revived in different _world_ from the world he used to live in.

"I see. Does it hurt?" Chopper asked slightly concerned.

"No, not anymore. It did hurt like a bitch when it's still fresh though," Zoro said with a smile.

"What is a _bitch_?" Chopper asked inquiringly, big hazel eyes staring at him expectantly. Now Zoro was in trouble. He didn't think Chopper would ask the meaning of a foul language like that.

"Eh… uh…," Zoro looked at the innocent expression, pure of curiosity on Chopper's face, and felt exceedingly guilty for about to teach some dirty words to the kid… reindeer. He should have minded his language a bit. "Umm… it's nothing," he said dismissively.

"Oh," Chopper then jumped down from Zoro's shoulder. "I'll ask Doctorine then."

"Waaah! Stop!" Zoro shouted and held Chopper down when the reindeer was about to leave. "Okay, okay, I'll tell you!" he said frantically. He _sooo didn't want to_ become a _cadaver_ for that witch medical practice… or Chopper's if she let him. She would mutilate him if she knew Zoro taught the reindeer a cursing word. "It's a cursing word, Chopper. You shouldn't speak it in front of other people, especially women," he said.

"Like… an insulting word?" Chopper asked.

"Yes," Zoro nodded slightly.

"Then why did you speak it out?" Chopper asked.

"I just want to exaggerate it a bit," Zoro said, sweat dropping.

"Does that word exist in dictionary?" Chopper asked again.

"Yeah, well… I think it does. But you'll find a different meaning in there. It's a slang word after all," Zoro answered again unsurely.

"It's worth check out then," Chopper nodded in resolution. Zoro just hoped that Chopper wouldn't look for the other cursing words because sometimes those words could mean really-really nasty.

"Uuh, don't tell others you know it from me," Zoro notified the little tanuki-reindeer and the kid just chuckled heartily. He was really adorable, indeed. Zoro smiled slightly in happy look as well.

But, after Chopper went out his room then, his shoulders slumped again. He felt really tired. His experience in that cave had worn him out so much. Yes, he didn't feel sick or nauseous like he used to, but for actually witnessing something like that as a third party and couldn't do anything but watch… he felt so much worse.

_I thought there's nothing that could be worse than experiencing the feel of becoming a victim. I was totally, undoubtedly and absolutely wrong._

Zoro laid down on his back, facing the ceiling, thinking. _How many more deaths should I witness until I get used to this?_

Someone tapped the sliding door of his room and Zoro sat up. "Yeah?" he responded slowly.

"The supper is ready. Come out and eat with us." It was Ryuuma's voice. Zoro felt that his mentor had become softer and gentler after they came home from that cave.

Did Ryuuma also felt the same experience as his? Zoro didn't know; and of course, he didn't want to ask something as horrible as that. Might be, Ryuuma indeed felt the same experience, that's why he didn't ask Zoro about what happened inside the cave.

"Okay," Zoro smiled softly and stood up before walking to the door to join him. His mentor might be crazy and outrageous, but he was also sensitive in this kind of thing. And, Zoro really appreciated that side of him.

**ZORO—RORONOA—ZORO**

"Did you guys just come back from ayakashi hunting again?" Kureha asked as she saw the fresh cut on Zoro's cheek that he got from a stray twig in the forest.

"Ah, no, it's a little bit personal," Ryuuma answered the old lady while drinking his sake. Zoro suspected that the sake was from the urn he brought back from the cave, but he didn't say anything about that.

"He didn't _rape_ you, did he, Zoro?" Kureha asked again and Zoro burst out his onigiri he was chewing with a shocked look.

"What!? NO! What the hell are you thinking!?" Zoro practically shouted, face flaming in embarrassment.

"Well, he seems like _that kind_ of guy," Kureha commented in a huff.

Zoro glanced at his mentor and could almost see the tick on his forehead. He just hoped he would not be caught up inside the catastrophe if both Ryuuma and Kureha decided to have a war against each other.

"Are you speaking about yourself?" Ryuuma commented back with a sneer.

"Try to say that once again and I'll give you a euthanasia shot," Kureha glared dangerously at him.

_Okay, it's time to retreat_—Zoro thought silently while picking up some onigiris and his sword, wanting to leave so badly, before something caught his collar. _Ugh…_

"Where do you think you're going, Zoro-kun?"

It was Ryuuma again and his sick way of calling his name that made him shiver unpleasantly. "Would you please stop that way of calling my name?" Zoro said while sighing in defeat.

"Then stay and eat. I don't want to deal with this old hag alone," Ryuuma said before he dodged a chopstick thrown at his direction from Kureha's seat.

"And I don't want to be caught up in your war!" Zoro protested nervously.

"Brats," Kureha huffed again in irritated look.

"Yohohoho. This house is so lively," Brook commented care-freely.

_Damn skeleton…!—_Zoro thought in annoyance, face slightly pale.

"Doctorine, I want to ask you something," Chopper went inside the room looking confused while holding a big, heavy-looking text book on his small hands.

"What is it, Chopper?" Kureha stood and walked to the little reindeer and they began to spoke about something before they went out the room.

"Chopper is studying hard, huh?" Ryuuma said with a smile and Zoro smiled as well.

"He's a good kid," Zoro said in response, feeling pretty content staring at the cute reindeer smile at his teacher.

"Then I should fetch some water before making dinner. Smoker-san is coming no?" Brook stood up and left the room even before Zoro or Ryuuma answered the question.

"How did he know about that?" Zoro asked, dumbfounded.

"It's Brook's little ability," Ryuuma said while sipping his sake again from the cup with a relaxed face.

Zoro looked up at his mentor slightly before looking down again. "You know, Ryuuma," Zoro then started speaking, but as always, his mentor cut him off—

"_Sishou_."

—with unnecessary thing; Zoro glared slightly at the older man. "Okay, _Sishou_," he rolled his eyes at that. "This past days… I've come to realize something about you," Zoro continued now looking at the bowl of miso soup in front of him.

"Oh, what have you understood about me?" Ryuuma asked relaxingly lit his pipe before smoking from it.

"That you extremely hate ayakashi," Zoro spoke carefully, looking for any sign of discomfort on his mentor's face, but he couldn't see any of that.

"Really?" his mentor asked slowly, closing his eyes in a cool look.

"Yes, otherwise… you wouldn't bring me to demolish their nests. You have no mercy when it comes to them," Zoro spoke lowly in an uneasy tone.

"Well, for one, they're dangerous and harming human. For two, yes, I hate them from the bottom of my heart," Ryuuma spoke out his reasons with a small smile.

"Even though they were human once?" Zoro asked again with frowning eyebrows.

Ryuuma chuckled slightly at that. "They're no longer humans, Zoro. They're just monsters and they need to be destroyed," he said with a cold flat tone while opening his eyes seriously now. "Let me tell you something good, Zoro. Those ayakashi out there… even though they were humans once, usually they made very nasty human beings. Mostly killers, people who couldn't accept their death because of their unhealthy obsession and unpleasant ideas; people that worth _killing_."

Honestly, Ryuuma's voice and his creepy gaze once again made Zoro shiver in something close to fear. He refused to be scared of his mentor. Sometimes he thought that his mentor was truly crazy and obsessed in destroying every single one of the ayakashi he met… _Wait a second._ Then Zoro realized something very strange.

"If you hate them that much… why do you let Brook stay by your side?" Zoro asked with a confused look. That was definitely odd, indeed.

Ryuuma's expression was blank for a moment before he closed his eyes again, sighing. "You've touched a very sensitive subject there, dear _Zoro-kun_," he said and Zoro went Goosebumps again.

"S-sorry… you don't have to answer if you don't want to," Zoro said looking away, face paling slightly.

"Well, I just thought I might want to tell you if you're ready to hear it, since it_ is_ a very nasty story," Ryuuma said while putting down his pipe and drink some of his sake again.

"Uuh… if you don't mind to share, I am ready to hear it," Zoro said, brazening himself to look at his mentor's face and Ryuuma chuckled at Zoro's resolution.

"Okay… firstly, I have to correct you about one thing," Ryuuma began and Zoro nodded slightly. "Brook isn't an ayakashi," he said.

There was a brief silence before "Huh?" Zoro made a dumbfounded look. "But I thought… _huh?_" he was definitely confused now. If Brook wasn't an ayakashi, then what was he? He clearly wasn't human since he was a skeleton. And he clearly wasn't rei because Zoro could actually touch him. Well, of course he didn't give out evil presence like other ayakashi did, but… What the hell was he then!? He could reconstruct his damn shattered bones for reality sake!

"There is a story behind his existence," Ryuuma spoke again, earning Zoro's attention back to him. Zoro then focused on Ryuuma, planning to hear everything out before interrupting him again. "Once… I had ever had a genius pupil. He was gifted with a body and talent to become the best shaman in this world."

_A Shaman…—_Zoro thought silently. Now he was about to know more about shaman, apparently.

"He was so brilliant and diligent, clever, and could absorb every-single knowledge I have, noted and spoken, in a very short time. His genius brain was scaring me most of the time, but at that time, I was still immature. I hadn't known why Shaman was categorized as a dangerous human being and I thought such talent was a waste to be left alone. That's why, I taught him to be the best connector in the world."

Zoro gulped as he looked at Ryuuma's defeated face. It seemed it was painful for him to speak about it. He seemed seeing something very horrible in his mind, and Zoro wasn't able to picture it even a bit.

"And I did. He became the best shaman that had ever existed in this world," Ryuuma frowned slightly. He pinched the tip of his nose, probably trying to hold his emotion down. "But, everything went downhill after that. He was my most favorite and the very first pupil I had ever had. I didn't watch him close enough because he studied hard, he even helped rei and people time to time, and I thought I could trust him to handle the knowledge of shaman just for good things sake. However, I was totally fooled. He had been studying something so _forbidden _and horrible behind my back. I didn't even suspect him one bit when some corpses began to disappear from town. I thought it was a work of some wacko nut-jobs. However, when the cemetery was began to be dug up and more corpses went missing, I began to feel something was wrong. The works of whacko nut-job wouldn't be that organized. I began to suspect that _people with ability_ were involved. So, I patrolled at night _alone_ since most people wouldn't believe even if I told them. And then…." Ryuuma paused for a few second, taking a deep breath.

Zoro gulped again, anticipating what he would hear after that.

"And then… I saw him, in his _dark _secret room, with countless corpses; some were patched up, and some were just left rotten, with some nasty foreign symbols on their flesh and in the rooms, hexagram, David Stars, and he actually smiled when he noticed I was there."

Zoro widened his eyes when he heard that.

"It didn't end there. The worst part came after that," Ryuuma chuckled slowly as he continued. "I was so mad at him I asked him what the hell he was doing with those corpses. He began to spout some extreme things like creating an army of the undead, so they wouldn't have to fear death and had feelings to kill the enemies, and more much crazy shit I didn't bother listening to because I was too shocked. But the most dreadful thing that came to my sight was when I saw the last corpse that was set in the middle of the room. It wasn't even a corpse anymore. It was just… a human skeleton with afro."

_It's Brook!_—Zoro thought in a shock.

"My accursed pupil…, _Gecko Moria_," Ryuuma spoke the name of his first pupil with such hatred in every tone that made Zoro shudder a bit. "He had been studying _Necromancy_, one of the most forbidden Shaman abilities, behind my back. He called the rei of people that had crossed over to the other side to come back here and stack them inside the corpses to bring them back alive. He was supposed to be a _Shaman_; he should have known that rei also has feeling! How could he do something so… so _horrible _like that!?"

Zoro could only cover his mouth and nose when he was trying to picture what kind of horror his mentor had witnessed.

"Countless of sick experiments had failed because the corpses didn't match the rei, and the body just rotted alive. How could you imagine seeing something like that happening in front of you?" Ryuuma asked with a very blank expression. Zoro could almost see he was screaming in his head, though. "I was so angry… so furious, I thought I went mad at that time. I killed my own pupil on the spot." He continued gritting his teeth. "But I didn't regret that one bit. It was my responsibility to stop him before he could do anymore _inhuman_ thing. Just… one thing that I regretted most was… the fact that Moria's last experiment before I caught him in the act was a success. And Brook… he woke up from his peaceful slumber." Ryuuma closed his eyes and covered his mouth. "He asked me why he was there… why he was even alive… why he got brought to life again…."

"Ryuuma…," Zoro looked really concerned as he heard that.

"I intended to kill him on the spot as well. He was a being that wasn't supposed to exist. He wasn't an ayakashi and wasn't a rei. He was just… a _creature_ that was born from evil practice of an evil Shaman. Yet…, I couldn't do that…!" Now Ryuuma covered his face completely with one hand. Zoro could see the trace of distress and aggravation, anger and regret. "I couldn't…! I _can't_, not when I know who he is…!"

Zoro widened his eyes again as he realized. "He was your… friend?" he asked carefully.

"No… more than that, Zoro…. Brook is my brother by blood," Ryuuma said with a very painful look.

Zoro honestly thought that his eyes would really pop out from their sockets as he heard that. "You're bro—!? But-but… _how_?" He thought Brook wasn't Japanese! His name was _Brook_! He couldn't be Japanese!

"He's my brother from a different mother. His mother was a _gaijin_ at that time." Ryuuma said.

"A gaijin?" Zoro looked confused.

"Hah… your history mark must be _something_ if you don't even know what a gaijin means," Ryuuma said with that mocking tone again and Zoro glared at him. "It was a reference for foreign people when we're in era before and during Meiji," he continued.

"Oh…," Zoro nodded slightly at that, understanding.

"Brook's Mother was from France, I think. My father had an affair with her and had a child from her before he married my mother. You know the marriage between Japanese and gaijin was forbidden at that time because we were still at war with the world outside. She brought Brook to her own country shortly after he was born, and they came back after the war ended thirty years later and Japan began to open up to the world. They both died in Japan because of a carriage accident and both were buried in my Family Cemetery by my father. He told me about them short time later when I was sixteen. I had never met my brother, but I regretted it so much because father didn't tell me if I had one… when he was still alive.

"And thus… when I finally met him in person for the first time, he had become something… like _that_. And technically, it was my fault because Moria was my pupil and I taught him the existence of _that forbidden _knowledge without knowing how sick his head could be. Deep down I know I should just kill Brook like I killed the other ones so as not to let him suffer any longer…. He was forcefully revived against his will, bound in that form for eternity, cursed to see his loved ones die again and again…. To live alone… living dead like in hell…! But I just… couldn't kill him. He _is_ my brother… and I just… _can't_ bear to let him die again.

"That's why; instead of killing Brook, I make an oath. I'll stay by his side so he won't get lonely. I'll stay away from the world outside, bringing him along with me so we can live together as brothers from that point. I'll stay beside him for as long as I am allowed to… until once again _deaths_ do us apart."

Ryuuma finished his story and Zoro couldn't even say anything to respond to it. How many years had he kept that burden by himself? Did Brook know what Ryuuma was thinking? Zoro really wanted to ask, yet he didn't have a heart to do so. He also didn't have any comforting words to say because he wasn't really good in reassuring people. He was afraid, in case he would say something that would deepen the wound. He couldn't help closing his eyes, though.

Zoro couldn't help Ryuuma in anyway. So the least thing he could do was… to not see Ryuuma crying and not see Brook standing silently behind the door.

**ZORO—RORONOA—ZORO**

By the time Smoker arrived in Ryuuma's residence, it had already been nightfall.

"I guess, Smoker will also stay overnight," Ryuuma smiled at his ex-pupil as he entered the house.

"Actually, _no_," Smoker said in hurry. "I went here leaving some of my works, I should get back as soon as I can to finish them off. I am taking Zoro home now," the silver haired cop continued expectantly.

"Well, if you insist." Ryuuma shrugged and pulled Zoro to meet Smoker. "He's all yours," he smiled.

Smoker raised his eyebrows. "Huh, I thought you'd fight more to make me and Zoro stay longer," he said in wonder.

"Well, for one, I have taught him everything I know about _our world_. For two, he has stolen my accursed katana,"— Smoker widened his eyes at that and Zoro dropped his jaw— "-and the last but not least, I don't want to see his face in my house any longer," Ryuuma finished, still with his smile, but Smoker could read it better. Something _big_ must have happened between them, and Ryuuma felt exposed somehow.

"You really stole _Sandai Kitetsu_?" The silver haired cop asked the green haired boy with a ridiculous look.

"No way! He gave it to me!" Zoro protested while sweating in nervous look.

"So much for a taste," Smoker rolled his eyes at that.

"Zoro!" Then something came out from the house and Smoker couldn't help widening his eyes in shock. "Are you going home?" the little hairy strange tanuki asked slowly.

"A tanuki is talking!" The cop stared disbelievingly and pointed at the fuzzy chocolate bundle walking on two feet that put its front foot on Zoro's leg, with fascinated expression.

"I am a reindeer!" the chocolate bundle shouted back in irritation at Smoker.

Instantly, Ryuuma and Zoro burst out laughing at that.

"What?" Smoker was completely dumbfounded at the sight. Did he just see his ex-teacher laugh so hard together with Zoro? He was more shocked of that fact rather than the sight of the chocolate talking tanuki.

"Oh, jeez…! That's fucking awesome! Your face…!" Zoro had a difficulty to maintain his laughter.

"Shut up and explain to me, will you!" Smoker said, blushing slightly and sweat dropping in annoyed look.

~~Please wait for a moment when Zoro told Smoker about Chopper and Kureha~~

"I see; a rare creature huh?" Smoker said slowly understanding the situation. "And you got your hands on Sandai Kitetsu after the incident, huh? Lucky bastard," he added while smirking at Zoro.

"Well, we're fated to be a katana and its master," Zoro said proudly with full confidence.

"Freak," Smoker commented while rolling his eyes again.

"Are you really going home?" Chopper yanked Zoro's shirt lightly while staring at him with big watery brown eyes that reminded people to a lost little puppy.

Zoro looked troubled as he saw that. _Haha… the boy is weak to cute things, huh?_—Smoker smirked as Zoro noticed his face and glared at him heatedly in red, embarrassed expression.

"Aah, I have school to attend, and there are a lot of things I want to reach in life, Chopper. Just like your dream of becoming a doctor," Zoro said with a smile while ruffling the soft-looking fur of the small creature.

_A tanuki-reindeer becoming a doctor? Who is he kidding?_—Smoker continued his self-asking with an incredulous expression.

"Yeah…," Chopper looked down with sad, defeated look.

"It doesn't mean we won't see each other again," Zoro added and the little reindeer perked up instantly.

"Really!?"

"Sure thing. I'll remember to visit when I am in holiday," Zoro promised the tanuki-reindeer.

"Okay! It's a promise!" Chopper said with a delighted expression and Zoro laughed slightly at that.

"Okay, let's leave now, Zoro. Night time is chilly on a mountain," Smoker said and Zoro nodded.

"Take care of yourself, Zoro, Smoker too," Ryuuma waved slightly. Smoker and Zoro nodded at him. They were just about to pass the fence when suddenly Brook came out and poked Zoro's shoulder in silence.

Smoker glanced and saw Zoro turn his face at the skeleton. Brook lifted a box of something he suspected like a dinner box and Zoro accepted it.

"Thanks, Brook," Zoro said in a genuine caring smile on his face that freaked Smoker a bit.

_Since when has the brat warmed up that far to ayakashi?_—Smoker thought very-very oddly.

Brook nodded his afro-ed head slightly and went back inside. Zoro stared at the box for a moment and then he picked up something (a _paper?)_ on top of the box. He looked at it for a moment and smiled again. "You're welcome…," he spoke lightly in a relieved expression.

"What is it?" Smoker asked in a curious look as they went down the mountain road to the car Smoker had parked on the mountain foot.

"It's a secret," Zoro said with a happy smile and Smoker just raised one of his eyebrows.

Huh, well, Smoker could always pry later… after they were home anyway.

**ZORO—RORONOA—ZORO**

In the morning a day later, a pack came from Roronoa Residence to Smoker's house.

Zoro accepted the pack, since he was the one at home and Smoker was already in his office to work his ass out. The green haired boy eyed the pack suspiciously. He hadn't contacted his house these past weeks, _months_, how come they just sent a pack just like that?

Well, Zoro knew that Smoker had contacted his father or someone in his family, somehow… but it was odd because nobody was actually sent to look for him. Probably Smoker was right about the fact that his father might think to leave him alone, living with a cop would become a good lesson to him since he couldn't participate in any illegal activity again if he didn't want to go in jail. Smoker was so likely a type that was capable to do that short of thing if Zoro went out of control again.

Not that Zoro wanted to go there again. He learned his lesson by dying and now was stuck with that stupid ability after all.

But _wait_. On second thought, Zoro might go if he could challenge Hawk Eye again; or, if Hawk Eye wanted to battle with him again. He wouldn't turn down the challenge, absolutely.

And after Zoro beat Mihawk, he would become the best swordsman in the world… he kept his promise to Kuina and he might die in peace after that.

Zoro felt good when he thought about it and was quite distracted from his strange thought about the pack until he saw it once more. He looked at the pack from every angle, trying to figure out if it was safe or not to open it. Then again, who would actually send something that could harm him? It was from his family house, for earth sake.

Zoro just shrugged and opened the pack. It was actually filled with his uniforms, clothes, and his text books… and a letter. Zoro tilted his head aside and picked up the letter. He opened it and saw his father's handwriting.

'_Just come back when you're ready'—_ it said.

Just a single sentence; Zoro blinked slightly in wonder as well as in confusion because he wasn't required to send letters or phone calls time to time like he was used to. Well, Alan wasn't supposed to be a nagging person, but Aira was, indeed. And it was just odd because Alan didn't mention anything about her and Zoro's little brother, Haruto.

Well, Zoro could just call if he wanted too. Despite all the rei inside the house, it was still his home. Yet, he actually had dreamt of living more independently from his family. This change wouldn't be that bad. Smoker was a cool guy, and he could talk to that cop almost in everything. They had the almost same unique ability after all. Plus, Zoro didn't need to pay for the rent for staying in his house because he was helping Smoker with his work as a trade. That was a mutualism symbiosis.

"Life is good," Zoro said with a satisfied smile.

Then… finally, today Zoro actually could go back to school. Johny and Yosaku would be ecstatic, and he couldn't wait to see his other classmates—best friends again; Luffy, Usopp, and even though he actually didn't want to see her that much, Nami would be a nice view once in awhile… after seeing those nasty monsters on the mountain at least.

Zoro took out his uniform and went to the bathroom to change clothes and readied himself for school.

**ZORO—RORONOA—ZORO**

_A new life…._

Zoro stepped out Smoker house and looked at the blue-grayish sky. It had been awhile since he had a chance to pay attention to the season. When he realized, it was almost winter. He took a deep breath and exhaled slowly in a refreshed look. He was feeling good with the cool wind breezing around. He started to walk on the street, enjoying the freshness and the coolness of the morning air. Occasionally, he jogged a bit and stopped to look for a poster stuck on the wall or news on the electronic billboard, somehow wanting to catch up with all the progress after these two and a half months skipping the world outside.

Zoro really enjoyed experiencing the ordinary –_normal_ morning time again after all of the frenzy happening in his life lately; well, at least until he saw many reis lurking around the street though.

_End of ordinary life once again…—_Zoro thought while sighing weakly in a defeated look. He didn't expect to have a quiet morning anyway. He rolled his eyes at his own pessimistic thought.

Zoro glanced slightly at the reis walking crossing the street repeatedly with hollow look; some even only had parts of his/her bodies. They must have been the rei from the traffic accidents. The troublesome ones, that was Smoker and Ryuuma said. Usually, they just didn't realize they were already dead. Zoro didn't want to have acquaintances with those kinds of rei. Nothing he could do to them because sometimes they asked for impossible things.

Zoro walked passing them and just ignored their presence until he arrived at the street near his school. It was quite a small street and only fit for a car to pass through. When he was about to turn he sensed something coming and stopped just in time to avoid the collision.

Zoro blinked when a body was sent flying, passing in front of him until it slammed to the wall on Zoro's left side. He could only stare at the man, wearing long sleeved orange-black T-shirt and knee-length blue trousers, pass out now, slumping on the street.

"Fucker!"

Zoro heard someone curse, a baritone voice that tickled Zoro's ear and was quickly followed by a sight of a skateboard thrown at the fainted man's direction, accurately hitting his ugly face. Zoro winced at the cracking sound. _That must hurt._

"You're 100 years too soon for messing with me, assholes," the mysterious baritone voice cursed again and Zoro heard the shrieks of some people (man, obviously) as they scampered away before him, completely _blue_-pale with one of them dragging the unconscious man.

_So violent since morning… and he owns an unbelievable foul mouth as well_—Zoro wanted to know what kind of guy would start a fight like that in a morning time like this. He must have looked something if those big guys ran away from him like a bunch of kids….

Zoro turned just slightly enough to peek at the alley, and the sight that greeted him was nothing like he had expected before. Instead of a scary-looking big man, he saw a tall but slender man wearing dark blue long coat and black pants, with soft-looking golden blond hair and the bluest eyes… err, eye, he had ever seen. He had a very interesting eyebrow as well. It was curled at the end. Zoro almost laughed seeing how ridiculous it was. He couldn't see the other eye because part of the guy's hair covered his left cheek and he was facing the electric tower on the right side of the road. He had very subtle goatee on his chin and a very attractive face.

The (very nice) sight of that guy was enough to make Zoro widen his eyes in… a surprise? A wonder? Zoro didn't really catch it. It just felt like a static electric on his skin. He could almost see the guy sparkling. He looked just like… a man from the other world.

Zoro must have been crazy when he thought that, or at least he needed to check his eyes out. It was just a guy… a blond guy. Okay, maybe he was indeed attractive, and blond was a rare hair color in Japan, but he could have been a tourist or something….

As he inspected the mysterious handsome blond guy more, Zoro could see a black _gakuran_, a school uniform, just from the top of his body on the chest part.

He was a student, Zoro realized; a high school boy judging from his feature. And to have been allowed to have blond hair as a student… he must have been a student from international school. There were four international schools in Grand Line City. Water Seven International Senior High School, Enies Lobby International Senior High School, Grand Line International Senior High School, and Impel Down International Senior High School.

Zoro went to Grand Line International Senior High School. That guy in front of him must have been a student from one of those schools.

Zoro intended to just ignore him and just walked pass him, but he paused slightly from his attempt as he saw the guy bend his body fluidly. He had to hold his breath as he realized how flexible that guy's body was. The blond boy picked up something from the street. A broken glass and few stems of flowers.

Zoro narrowed his eyes further and saw a photograph on the side of the road, leaning against the electric tower, surrounded by many offerings. A rei of a boy was standing just beside the tower. The guy looked pretty upset as he frowned at the smashed glass and the stepped out flowers. He kneeled and put back the flowers on top of the other offerings and then he clasped his hands on in front of his face while closing his eyes, praying.

_I see…, he's upset because those guys earlier messed the offerings for that boy…. Is he a family or something?_

"Sorry, I don't bring any flower right now. I'll be back later after school to put fresh flowers," the boy said as he stood and eyed the place for a moment longer before he went away while mumbling "Rest in peace, boy."

Zoro came out from his hiding (_who is hiding!?_) place after the blond boy turned right at the four ways street up front. He approached the rei and looked at the boy. Judging from the appearance he was only ten, more or less. Zoro stood in front of the rei and inspected more. The form was still raw. The boy was still bleeding on his head and some other areas were damaged as well. It was a recent accident?

"Hey, I can see you," Zoro spoke quietly. No one was around, so it was okay to speak to him. The boy jerked a bit and looked up slightly at him, surprised might be. Zoro looked at him kindly. "You don't have to speak if it's hard. It's okay, don't be afraid," he said more with a reassuring tone.

Zoro put his hand on the kid's head and closed his eyes. He concentrated slightly and saw what happened to the kid from his memory as a third party. Yep, now Zoro could connect to rei's memory as he pleased. It was in his control and he could even position himself as a third party who could see from different angle. That was the ability he learned inside the cave. To see a memory like a cinema; he didn't have to feel the suffering and the pain of the victim, so there was almost no side effect. Yet, because he could only _see_, he couldn't help either even though he wanted too. And the feeling was worse because he felt like a jerk for just seeing it without doing anything.

"I see…, Akino Yamato, huh? Good and strong name… you died in a car accident three days ago, and a hit and run case to boot," Zoro opened his eyes again and glared at the other way. "Don't worry, kid. The guy who killed you will pay for what he's done. That's why you shouldn't be here. It's no longer your place," Zoro spoke, convincing the boy slightly so he could go to a place he belonged to.

The boy looked down slightly in saddened look.

"What is it? Is there something else you want?" Zoro asked again.

The boy slowly lifted his hand and pointed at the house across the street.

"Your family lives there?" Zoro asked and the boy nodded. "Do you want to say something to them? I can pass it to them if you want to," he smiled as the boy's face brightened slightly. "What do you want to say?"

Zoro kneeled and looked for the boy's damaged bloodied eyes. He could still see the clear dream in those eyes even though they were just rei's. That driver… taking a life of this innocent child and just ran off like that… Unforgivable, Zoro would make sure he would pay for this a LOT.

Zoro closed his eyes and put his forehead on the kid's rei's, trying to hear his tiny shy voice. He chuckled slightly as he heard it. "Sure thing. Don't worry about _Tama_. She will deliver her baby safely. I'll make sure your mom knows it," Zoro said and paused slightly as he heard more. He opened his eyes and looked at the boy sadly. "Don't worry; she will after you're in peace."

The boy looked at Zoro in wide smile before his form was fading away in a sparkling light. "Farewell," Zoro spoke with a relieved smile on his face.

After that, Zoro looked at his watch. The class started at 9.00 a.m. He still had thirty minutes before it started. Zoro eyed the house across the street and decided to approach it. After all, he had made a promise to Yamato to deliver his message to his family. Zoro stood in front of the gate and pushed the bell button.

**ZORO—RORONOA—ZORO**

**Grand Line International Senior High School; 8.45 a.m.—**

"Zo—!"

"Zor—!"

"ANIKIIIII! (3)"

Just like Zoro had predicted earlier, both his close friends, Johny and Yosaku, were ecstatic… extremely ecstatic even, when he showed up in class that morning—

"Holy shit—! ZORO!"

—and of course was followed by the most energetic boy in Grand Line City, Monkey D. Luffy.

"Hey, guys!" Zoro waved at them while grinning in front of the class.

Instantly a punch from Luffy came to his face.

"WHOAH!" But of course, Zoro could dodge that, since his motor skills were awesome. Yet, he couldn't dodge when he was tackled down to the ground by the other two boys. "Ouch! Jeez, what the hell—!?"

"Zoro, how could you!!" Luffy, a cheery boy with overly excited vigor and short black messy hair and dark coal eyes, grabbed his collar and shook him wildly with an angry face from his right side. His slightly tan slender body didn't really show the power he could use to kick other people's ass or break people's neck.

"Uwaaah, anikiii! We thought you're a goneeer!" while Yosaku, a boy with a neck-length light brown wavy hair and a pale skin was crying while hugging his chest from Zoro's left side.

"Why didn't you inform us anything about your well being, aniki!? We're so worried to death!" and the last was Johny, a tan skinned boy with short black hair, who always had his sunglasses on his face, following with the same hard cry as his other friend, Yosaku, of course while hugging Zoro's waist from on top of his leg.

"G-guys…! I can't breathe…!" Zoro was helplessly shaken around and crushed by his friends' hug. He almost passed out from the lack of air as they screamed and yanked and pulled and even hit him everywhere. Didn't they know he had just recovered!?

"Live it down, you guys… do you want to kill him the moment Zoro can go back to school?" A pretty girl with neck-length orange hair said while rolling her eyes, looking at the wild, too enthusiastic boys on the floor. "Give him mercy already," she continued.

"But Nami!" Instantly Luffy stood and confronted his orange haired friend with almost crying face. "It's too cruel!! Why won't he see us even though we came so many times to his house!?"

"Eh?" Zoro had just heard that. "Wait, you came?" he was surprised hearing that.

"Yeah, we also came to the hospital, but your father wouldn't let us see you," Yosaku sobbed slightly.

"Huh? Dad didn't say anything about that," Zoro was confused. Why wouldn't Alan inform him if his friends were looking for him? Well, he never wondered why they didn't come to see him when he was in the hospital though… but for his father banning his friends to see him… Why?

"Yeah, we could guess why he banned us to see you though… He probably thought it was our fault that aniki was involved in something like underground fight," Johny said while sobbing as well. "We're bad companions for you, so he doesn't want us to get near you or something…."

"No way," Zoro quickly cut. "You guys are my best friends. He maybe my dad, but he can't control my life. I am sure he had other reason not to let you guys see me… Oh, and these past months, I wasn't home. I was recovering on Mount Fuji, so…,"

Nami walked forward and smacked Zoro on his head… _hard, _effectively cutting his rambling.

"OWW! What the fuck!?" Zoro was surprised and in pain as he stroked his abused head and glared at Nami, confused and annoyed at the same time. "What the hell was that for?" he protested.

"At least, give us a damn call, moron! We're so worried about you!" The orange haired girl glared at him in that annoyed look as well, but of course the hint of worry was still there.

Zoro looked around once again and he saw his best friends were frowning and sniffing, looking at him in worried faces. Zoro sighed. "I am sorry for worrying all of you these past months. I am okay now, so we can go play again as you wish," Zoro said sincerely.

Yosaku and Johny were tearing up again and cried more on Zoro's arms while Luffy hugged his neck and messed his hair while grinning, telling him 'welcome home' to their circle, and Nami sighed while smiling slightly in happy relieved look.

"Okay, to celebrate Zoro's fine recovery, our lunches today is on Zoro," Nami said with her devilish grin.

"What!?" Now Zoro looked shocked and the other laughed at his face.

The other students, who happened to be in the same classroom, looked at the four boys and a girl in amused looks as well, even though they're not in the circle. After all, they were Straw Hat Gang, a bunch of troublemakers in that school.

Straw Hat Gang was one of the gangs existing inside Grand Line International Senior High School. This gang was pretty unusual since the members were people from various nations while the other gangs usually stood for people in the same nation. The leader of Straw Hat Gang, Monkey D. Luffy, was a Filipino, a very energetic boy with monstrous appetite and power. He had that precious straw hat that became symbol of his gang. He said it was a memento from someone he respected a lot, so he treasured it like it was his body part. He was rarely seen without the hat as well. Luffy looked cute with his innocent face and bratty attitude, but he could be quite deadly and dangerous if he was angry, especially if he was fighting or stand up for his friends.

Next, the first in command after Luffy, was of course, Roronoa Zoro, a mixture of Ireland (his father) and Japanese (his mother). He was Luffy's first choice of friend because he was interesting and strong, Luffy said. Actually, Zoro also didn't know exactly why he agreed to join Luffy, but he felt the boy could see him through every wall he created around him, and successfully amazed him with his strength and fighting skills. So, Zoro accepted the honor and followed Luffy, because Luffy was more out of the ordinary than he had ever imagined. Being with him was never boring and Zoro liked that feeling. As for Zoro's ability… well, everyone knew about that since Roronoa's family was famous with sword fighting, but not only his family; Zoro was strong and –not that he wanted to brag-, but he was quite popular as well. He was a High School National Champion of Kendo, Iai, and Naginata. He also learned multiple Japanese sword fighting styles, but he was still in training for all of that. Nobody knew about his three swords style, except people who saw him fight in an underground tournament.

The third one to join was Bellmere Nami. She was an inhuman witch from England who cared only for one, money; two, money; three, her friends; four and the rest, _money_. She was really stingy, but could be passionate if it was about her friends. Of course they're required to pay back her passion if they asked for a favor from her. Zoro often became her victim in that area, so she pissed him off most of the time. Luffy chose her to be second in command because… well, many things happened, and even though nothing good would happen if she joined them, she proved she was capable of handling them all with their craziness sometimes. Her ability in handling information and used it for her and her friends benefit were outstanding. But the most important thing, she was a strong determined girl both inside and outside; and Zoro (maybe Luffy as well) respected her for that. But still, she could be so annoying too that Zoro wished he didn't know her that much.

The fourth one… was not there yet. His name was Usopp. He was a strange Japanese boy with extra long nose that he claimed as his charm point. He had black curly hair and eyes, and a funny personality. He was a very good liar to top it all. He was great in handicraft and painting, and he often made stories and wrote for their school newspaper (even though he wasn't in any club). Sometimes he could be a coward in cute funny ways, but he was a good guy who would do anything to protect his friends and something precious to him. Luffy seemed interested in him because of that, so he asked him to join.

The fifth one was also not there yet. Her name was Nefertari Vivi. She was an Arabian Princess with long wavy crystal bluish hair who came to Japan to study their culture. And the princess part was true because she was indeed a next queen in training. She was very polite and elegant, but sometimes could act clumsy as well. She was a strong willed girl and actually willing to fight to stand up for weaker people. Luffy found her personality so interesting, so he boldly asked her to join his gang and she was more than happy to accept. She was repeatedly almost kidnapped for ransom because her family was so rich, but with Luffy and his friends around now, she was well protected and her usual body guard, Chaka and Pell, could enjoy their time more than before; even though they're quite worried about her friends, but only Zoro knew about that and he didn't plan to tell Luffy and the others because it would cause problems.

Johny and Yosaku were not in the gang, yet they stayed inside the circle. They were just there for Zoro, but they also respected Luffy and the others. They were Zoro's childhood friends… or more like, he was their guardian or something. It wasn't because they were weak; they were just clumsy sometimes… and couldn't read the situation and the opponent very well, so they were often involved in a losing brawl. Zoro made sure they were okay, but didn't babysit them either. He was just… watching out for them, and only helped if they really needed him to. But of course, they rarely came to him because they didn't want to use Zoro for something like that. They respected and liked Zoro as a big brother and wanted to be like him, so they trained hard and tried not to depend on him too much. They were good people, though. They offered help to a lot of people who needed help even though sometimes the help was unnecessary, and they ended up making trouble for the one who they were trying to help.

Anyway, Straw Hat gang was unique. They weren't bad even though sometimes they caused trouble and little mischief. They were like a cheery color inside the school which made the students' day brighter each day. They were popular and well liked unlike the other gangs, which of course, made them a target of jealousy and envy from the other gangs' members; so, they were often challenged in a fight. Luffy always accepted the challenge and kicked their asses after that together with Zoro, sometimes with Usopp if he wanted to help and Nami if she wanted to distract their enemy and rob them afterwards; and Vivi always cleaned up the mess in the end with her influence in school and town, so they were considered powerful in every regard.

"Where is Usopp?" Zoro asked then, realizing his long nosed friend wasn't in the class after Johny and Yosaku excused their selves. After all, the bell had just rung and the first period was about to start.

"Oh, he's still in Kaya's class. You know, they're already _more than friends_," Nami grinned happily at that.

"Oh, really? He finally asks her out? I should congratulate him later," Zoro smiled as well hearing the news.

Kaya was Usopp childhood's friend, but not anymore if they were dating now. She was a beautiful shy girl with pale fair skin and long light brown hair, just until bellow her shoulder. She was the only daughter of a rich family in town and was very kind and polite to everyone. Usopp had a crush on her since forever and in Zoro's opinion; Kaya was in love with him as much. It was just recently, it seemed, from what he heard from Nami, that Usopp brazened himself to ask her out, and it went well, he guessed.

"What about Vivi, I haven't seen her as well," Zoro said as he looked around looking for the pearl-blue haired girl.

"Oh, are you worried after rejecting her?" Nami asked with that teasing look that irked Zoro very much.

And she actually sniffed Zoro's personal business to boot. How the hell did she know about that anyway!?

"That's not your business, Nami," Zoro growled at her in annoyed face.

Yep, Vivi and Zoro had a history… or actually a one-side crush from Vivi to him. Right before the day of his last match with Mihawk, Vivi asked him to date her. But, because he only considered her as a friend, he politely rejected her. She was okay with it. Well, in front of him she appeared okay, but most girls would cry after her love was rejected. She might come to Nami and cry in front of her after that; that's why Nami knew about it.

Zoro suddenly felt bad about it. He would ask her later whether she would feel easier if Zoro wasn't around. He had rejected numerous girls since he was in the middle school, but he felt much heavier rejecting Vivi. It might be because she was a close friend. He didn't want to hurt her… _wait_.

That feeling was close to his feeling for Kuina back then. He might have a crush on Vivi as well, right? But he already rejected her… and it had been two and a half months after that time. She probably had moved on.

Right, Zoro should just consider her as a friend, no more, no less. That was better than creating an uncertain relationship which would only end up hurting each other without proper understanding.

"Okay, okay, don't be so angry. After all, Vivi already had fiancé named Kohza back in her nation," Nami said while sighing lightly. "And he is a rich prince too. How lucky," she continued while daydreaming.

_She never said that… she was straying from the right course?_—Zoro thought in disbelief. _Vivi?_

The world would end soon, it seemed.

"Oh yeah, news for you, Zoro!" Luffy bounced and once again latched his grip on Zoro's neck, almost strangling him.

"Uh… what is it, Luffy?" Zoro asked while trying to loosen the shorter boy's arms around his neck.

"When you're out, I decided to add a new member in our group," Luffy said with a wide grin.

"Huh?" Zoro looked at the boy's face on his shoulder in an inquiring expression.

"Ah, yes. He is a transfer student from France. A very attractive blond haired boy with aquamarine eyes color who steals almost every girl's heart when he came to our class. He speaks like a Don Juan in _otome_-game (4) character. It's really amusing!" Nami giggled heartily, looking very amused, indeed.

"Really? Sounds disgusting enough. Why pick him, Luffy?" Zoro asked, sweat dropping. It seemed an idiot had joined their circle. He had to find a good thing from him or he would just pick a fight with him to drive him out.

"Because he cooks delicious foods!" Luffy yelled and brought his arms to the sky with a very happy, excited look.

"On top of being a womanizer, he has a cooking as a hobby?" More and more disgusting in his mind, how girly this guy could be.

"Oh, don't get him wrong, Zoro. He's strong, you know! You should have seen him kicking some asses of the other gang members in the first day he came to our school. Every girl instantly fell in love with him. He has a very flexible body and his kick can actually break the tables!" Nami said again enthusiastically.

_Flexible…?_

Zoro instantly remembered the boy he met, err… he saw, this morning. Blond hair, blue eye, flexible body… Could that be that guy? But a womanizer and a cook?

Zoro remembered again how the blond boy picked up the flowers and put them back in the offerings and when he prayed in front of the dead boy's photograph. _Nah, it must be different person…_

"Okay, so… who is this guy?" Zoro asked again.

"His name is Blakleg Sanji," Nami said, and she was about to say something again when suddenly—

"Did you call me, Nami-swaaaaan!?"

—the same boy Zoro had seen this morning barged inside the class like a storm and threw a big hug at Nami, which of course was dodged by the red haired girl. Plus, she kicked him on his back until he fell down on the floor, his nose bleeding.

"Aah, your kick feels like a loving heavenly pain for me, Nami-swaaan!" he said again while making face as if he were in bliss.

Zoro could only stare the event with a flabbergasted expression. "-and he is quite a masochist to boot," Nami continued her words with an annoyed look.

"Are you serious, Luffy? A guy like this…!?" Zoro had begun to feel nauseous seeing the blond boy on the floor. He couldn't believe he had had thought the guy was attractive this morning. Really, he should get his eyes seriously checked out later for sure.

"I don't care he if is a moron or a masochist! He's cooking for me for the rest of his life!" Luffy declared childishly without care of the world.

"That's impossible, Luffy!" The blond guy suddenly woke up and grabbed Nami's hands. "Because my talent and body is only dedicated to this flower, ah, _mademoiselle_ Nami-swan~, once again your beauty steals my heart," he spoke with all of his heart while closing his eyes… with his nose still bleeding too boot; rather than a Don Juan or a character in Otome-game, he behaved completely like an idiot, really. Zoro went even paler if he could.

"Buy me an eighteen karat diamond, and I will go out with you," Nami said to the blond in front of her.

"Aah, such high prize to give my love for you. But I'll work days and nights to bring you the stars!" Sanji said more ridiculously than before.

"I don't want stars, Sanji-kun. I want diamonds," Nami said again indifferently.

_Nami is seriously a devil in human disguise—_Zoro thought, sweat dropping.

"This guy seriously makes me sick," Zoro said then, not patient enough to witness such stupidity even more.

Sanji perked up slightly as he said that and he "Excuse me for awhile, Nami-swan," let go of Nami's hands and glared daggers at Zoro's direction. "What did you say, _Marimo_?" he asked after looking at Zoro's hair.

"Marimo…!?" Zoro was surprised at the sudden use of nickname and seriously insulted. "So, what, _curly eyebrow_? Do you have problem with that?" he glared back at the blond with a tick on his forehead, and electricity seemed sparkling between their glares.

"Asshole!" Sanji was about to lift his leg and Zoro was about to deliver a punch when suddenly Usopp came inside while shouting very loudly.

"The teacher is coming!"

Both Sanji and Zoro halted their attempts, but still glared at each other, not letting their guard down while everyone was staring at them in silenced-surprised looks.

"Eh, what happened guys?" Usopp who didn't get what was happening looked confused, but then he brightened tenfold when he saw Zoro in the middle of the class. "Zoro!" he called while waving at him frantically.

Zoro was still glaring at Sanji for awhile before he took a deep breath and unclenched his fist. Sanji seemed noticing that Zoro backed down, so he slowly put his right leg on the floor as well. They were still glaring at each other for a few seconds later before Zoro looked at Usopp.

Zoro smiled at the long nose. "Hey, Usopp! Long time no see!" he said, waving back.

"Okay, class. We're starting," the teacher then entered the classroom, cutting every conversation and events that happened inside the class just now; everyone went back to their seat and of course, Zoro and Sanji as well.

"Hump, damn one celled alga," Sanji muttered in annoyance and Zoro heard that.

"Shitty cook," Zoro hissed back in pissed off look as well.

It seemed Zoro wouldn't get along well with this new member. He should do something to convince Luffy to drive him out of the circle, or obviously, there would be bloodshed and bloodbath in the future of Straw Hat Gang.

**End Chapter 6**

**Tbc…

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**

**Note:**

**(1)…**_**-sama**_**: **it's a suffix added after the name to call a person who is highly respected by the addresser

**(2)**_**Bakeneko**_**: **literally meaning cat-monster

**(3)**_**Aniki**_**: **one of a way to call big brother, and it's the most informal way. I'll just use aniki for Yosaku and Johny to call Zoro to differ the way Haruto calls him. Since he calls Zoro 'big brother' which in Japanese, I intended to use 'onii-sama,' a very polite way to call a big brother, before I change it into general 'big brother.'

**(4)**_**Otome**_**: **literally meaning 'girls.' **Otome-game** is a game dedicated for girls such as a dating game or something like that, in which all the characters are beautiful boys that spout so many sweets cheesy lines to flutter girl's heart.

**A/N:** Yeah… longer and longer chapter each time… Well, you said you like long chapter, so I give you longer and longer chapter. Just tell me if it's troublesome to read a too long chapter (but I hope not). I need to describe things in detail in this story… that's why; so the long chapter is unavoidable. I hope you don't mind… So, what about this chapter? Like I promised, Sanji and the other Straw Hats come up! XD. Luffy~!! *loves* XDD I haven't brought up Robin and Franky, but that would be for the other time. Please, I need your opinion, guys… anything is fine. So, I can be more and more pumped up to write down the next chapter! XD

Oh, and I will give you a little spoiler for the next chapter: the hints of shounen ai will start to be visible in the next chapter! XDDD Just wait for it, kay? *excited to write the next chapter ASAP*


	7. Shaman Part 2

**A/N: **Ugh, finally I can update this… I know I have to say sorry for neglecting this story for shitty _quite _long. To let you know… I haven't finished my damn proposal yet…, but I take a break from it for awhile and write this to let some _steam_ out and the sudden inspiration is waaay to be wasted if I don't write it right away, so… here I am, back with new chapter of this story ^_^. I hope you enjoy reading it~ XD

**Disclaimer and Warning: **_**Same as usual…**_

**Additional Notes: **Okay, there will be various POVs in this chapter. Mostly Zoro's, and some Sanji's, but if you find the general POV, it's completely _**intentional**_. If Zoro's not around, the POV will be general. I just add it to avoid confusion though…

* * *

**The Connector**

**Chapter 7: **_**Shaman (Part 2)**_

_I want to see you…_

_I'll wait for you here…_

_Always… Always…_

_Zoro-sama…_

**ZORO—RORONOA—ZORO**

Turned out, that ero-Shitty-Cook was incredibly infuriating.

Zoro had stared at the blond teen who was wooing so many girls at the same time without even feeling the slightest disgrace, for almost fifteen minutes now, during the afternoon break in the cafeteria of his school. The more he stared at Sanji, the more he felt pissed off. How could there be a guy as shameless as that curly-brow blond prick anyway?

Zoro snorted in disgust as Sanji spouted so much cheesy nonsense like a prince of the idiots.

"You've been doing that for precisely 15 minutes now," Nami spoke as she drank her tomato juice, face looking amused.

"Doing what?" Zoro glanced at the orange haired girl without turning his face.

"Snorting while staring at Sanji-kun," she said while smirking. Zoro didn't like that smirk at all. It read disaster and catastrophe at the same time after all.

"I am not _staring _at him," Zoro growled, slightly frowning, not at her though, but at the fact that he appeared _staring_ at Sanji in Nami's point of view. Well, he was staring at the ridiculousness of Sanji's being, but he wouldn't admit it even if _that_ was the reason.

Nami rolled her eyes at that. "Come on, I am not blind, you know? You're just jealous," she said, now biting her bread while throwing more accusing grin.

"Jealous on _what,_ exactly?" Zoro narrowed his eyes at Nami now, annoyed. He? Jealous of that stupid-ero-cook? That was the dumbest indictment he had ever heard.

"Hmm… I'd say 'jealous of _whom_' rather than 'on _what_', but… I don't know. Humor me, Zoro. Maybe you're jealous because many girls flock to him and not to you?" Nami guessed slightly with that _'I know everything'_ expression.

"Such a brazen speculation without any proof. Why would I be jealous on something like _that_? That's completely irrational," Zoro huffed and drank his iced tea from the glass on his hand.

Nami was silent for a moment before she spoke again. "Then… you're jealous of _those girls_?"

Zoro spurted his drink in a shocked look. "Wha—!" he widened his eyes at Nami, feeling completely ludicrous. "What the fuck—! Nami, why the hell would I be jealous of them!" That completely made no sense.

"Then, why are you ogling at Sanji-kun in such blatant manner?" Nami asked skeptically, face still totally looking amused at Zoro's reaction, apparently.

"Mother of—, I am NOT_ ogling_!" Zoro protested with totally embarrassed, annoyed look. "Jeez, you and your wild imagination… That guy is just pissing me off, that's why!" he barked lightly, completely irritated.

"Normally, people won't stare at the source of his frustration," Nami said indifferently.

"Who the hell said I was frustrated?" Zoro began to lose his patience here. Nami's question and statement were too absurd he couldn't even follow it right.

"Then why are you so against Luffy's decision to befriend Sanji-kun? You don't even have any reason to begin with," Nami said the matter of fact while frowning.

Zoro flinched slightly at that. True, he had no lucid reason to hate the blond. But… he didn't know why. He just didn't like it. The demeanor, the chivalry things… it was just like… the ero-cook seemed underestimating people around him. Especially the women. Yes, Sanji treated them like breakable jewels, but he couldn't just apply the treatment to all the girls. Zoro hadn't known why, but part of him felt incredibly insulted for some reason he hadn't understood. There must have been something… that triggered the dislike part. Zoro had to find that out first before he could drive Sanji away.

"See, you do _not_ have any reason," Nami pointed out the fact again as Zoro didn't disagree or protest.

"Well," Zoro flushed back on his seat, a bit defeated. "Let's just say I don't like his manner for now," he mumbled lightly while resuming his drinking.

"Luffy likes him very much. Just accept the fact," Nami said while finishing her bread with a satisfied look. She took her handkerchief and wiped the corner of her mouth.

Zoro scowled at her at the undeniable fact. Luffy was indeed a bit attached to the blonde.

"By the way…, why didn't you eat your food, Zoro?" Nami asked as she noticed that Zoro didn't touch his food at all.

"Ah…," Zoro looked away slightly, trying hard not to glance at the _thing_ standing beside him. He had tried to ignore a rei that had been following him around since he entered their classroom that morning. It seemed it was a rei of a student in Grand Line International Senior High School. It was a _she_. The rei seemed not having any grudge or anything, but her appearance was a bit freaking Zoro out. Her hair was a long mess, her skin was sickeningly bluish pale and her uniform was old, in tatters. Dark rings featured her dead eyes, but the creepiest and the most disgusting thing was the rei was drooling over his food… literally.

Zoro didn't know and didn't want to know what kind of substance a rei could produce; but he was certain about one thing. He couldn't and wouldn't ever bring himself to touch the food drooled by any rei. Heck, he wanted to wretch actually. But if he did that, the rei would notice that he could see her. And Zoro wasn't in the mood to deal with her.

"I am not hungry," Zoro had to lie to fool Nami. He didn't want to be regarded as a freak in his school after all.

"Well," Nami took his sausage and ate it for herself. "Your loss." She shrugged and Zoro paled slightly. That sausage was covered with unidentified disgusting yellow-green substance that could only be seen by Zoro.

That was just plainly sick and wrong on so many levels. Zoro seriously wanted to throw up, but he held it up earnestly, not wanting to alert both Nami and the rei. Blame it on his poker face. "I think I am going to the bathroom. You can have it all," he stood and made a beeline to the restroom, leaving Nami to stare at his back in confusion, and the rei which was still busy slobbering his lunch.

**ZORO—RORONOA—ZORO**

"Mademoiselle Nami-san!" Sanji made a grand entrance to the classroom just a few minutes before the bell rang.

Nami looked up from her seat after she stopped chatting with Vivi and arched an eyebrow at him. "What's wrong, Sanji-kun?" she asked lightly.

"And Princess Vivi-chan!" Sanji turned his hearty eyes at Vivi, and the blue haired girl waved at him, chuckling slightly, clearly amused by the way Sanji call her. "I am looking for you two, beautiful ladies!" Sanji then walked nearing both girls with a very happy look. "I made this new desert during my practice at home last night, and I want you to taste it for the first time!" He beamed in spirit. "Here, try these." The blond then put two brown plastic boxes on top of Nami's desk.

Nami and Vivi glanced at each other before they opened the caps of the boxes, and immediately frowned almost at the same time. "It's green," Nami stated oddly, deadpanned.

"Yes, I tried to mix the bitter Q with cake and pudding. It's a healthy desert. My shitty old man even hasn't tried it. I want to get a reaction from both of you first!" Sanji said enthusiastically.

"Bitter Q…?" Vivi's face turned pale a bit. The Arabian Princess seemed hating the name even though she didn't know what kind of fruit or vegetable that was. But it was green and she was kind of full just by looking at it. Moreover it was _bitter _Q. That should give out everything.

"Sanji-kun… _bitter Q _(1) is not a food for human," Nami said with a slightly threatening grim look.

"Ah, I know it sounds unappetizing, but it's good! I promise!" Sanji said while sweating slightly.

"I am sorry, Sanji-san. But I am kind of in a diet right now, so I have to pass," Vivi said with her soft smile. "But thank you for your effort making it for me, I am happy, really!" she added as she saw the disappointment in Sanji's feature.

"I am also not in the mood for desert right now. I don't know why, but my stomach feels funny. Maybe it's because I took Zoro's food at the break," Nami touched her tummy with her hand, feeling something weird.

"WHAT!" Sanji looked horrified. "That asshole-stupid one celled alga poisoned you, Nami-san! I should kill him at once!" he exploded in rage at the thought of Zoro harassing his dear Nami-san.

"No, no, it's completely my mistake, Sanji-kun," Nami said, sweat dropping from her cheek. It was bad enough that Zoro and Sanji didn't like each other at first sight. She didn't want to add the oil on the already flaming relationship. "You see, he didn't have any appetite at lunch and let his food go to waste, so I took the pity and ate his share of food. It seemed I got a little too much. That's all." The orange haired girl explained with a troubled look.

"Oh… is he sick?" Sanji raised his eyebrow.

"Well, he was slightly pale when he left the cafeteria," Nami recalled, putting her forefinger on her chin.

"Is Zoro-san okay?" Vivi asked, frowning slightly in worried look.

"Maybe it's because he's still recovering," Nami shrugged. "More importantly," Nami turned her face at Vivi and grinned. "How is the meeting after the fateful day two and a half months ago?"

Vivi blushed slightly at the suggestive question. Sanji looked at Vivi and then at Nami in a questioning look.

"It-it's just the way it is," Vivi said, a bit stammering, but still looking completely cute and regal as she did so.

"Did he say something after that?" Nami inquired further, really interested.

"Ah…, he said he was sorry and asked me whether it would be easier for me if he wasn't around," Vivi said quietly, looking at anywhere but Nami.

"Aah, that guy…. He's completely lost his mind rejecting a girl as beautiful as you," Nami sighed and huffed, slightly annoyed.

"Uh…," Sanji cleared his throat to get attention from the girls. Nami looked up at him with raised eyebrows and Vivi blushed again, forgetting that they had Sanji there. "Did I miss something important?" the blond boy asked, completely confused, not catching their conversation at all.

"Ah, it was just a thing between Vivi-chan here and Zoro before Sanji-kun moved in," Nami said dismissively.

"Wai—, Nami-san!" Vivi blushed even redder at the mention of her personal business.

"What! That Marimo and my Vivi-chan have a history!" Sanji looked completely shocked, too shocked to everyone's eyes actually that both girls thought he was just exaggerating.

"It's not like that, Sanji-kun. There is nothing between Zoro-san and me. It was just my selfish one-sided attraction, but it hadn't grown into love, so I was okay when he made it clear, that I was just a friend for him. He was actually very polite when he rejected me, I felt a bit bad because of that. He looked really troubled when he talked to me just now…," Vivi said with a solemn smile.

"Vivi-chan…," Sanji looked at her with an edgy look. "Ugh, that's kind of pissing me off! Why would a one-celled alga like him reject a princess' love! He definitely doesn't know where he is standing!" the blond then immediately protested and fumed.

"Sanji-kun, Zoro is not _you_," Nami stated dryly. "At least he isn't a womanizer," she added slightly, not caring if Sanji heard the last comment or not. Vivi's sweat dropped at Nami's words.

"Ah, such a flattering words from Nami-san! I am impressed and honored!" Sanji smiled widely like an idiot again at Nami's clear ignorant words. More beads of sweat rolled down from Vivi's cheek.

"Anyway," Vivi cleared her throat now. "We're good. Zoro-san and I," she smiled again with reassuring look. "Sanji-san doesn't have to be worried about that."

"Oh, okay…," Sanji nodded slightly. "But he's not sick, is he, that marimo?" he asked quietly more to himself than the girls.

Nami and Vivi glanced at each other in shared funny looks. They could have sworn Sanji looked concerned for a minute there.

"Uh, Sanji-kun," Nami called and Sanji immediately beamed at being called by her goddess. "Why don't you give these deserts to Zoro? I believe he hasn't eaten anything since lunch," she continued with a small smile.

"Eeh?" Sanji looked slightly minding it. He made those deserts for his goddess, not for some marimo.

"Yes, I am sure he's hungry," Vivi said, agreeing Nami's idea. Of course, aside for not getting to eat the cake-pudding with disturbing ingredients, she wanted to make sure that Zoro ate something for lunch. He was still recovering from his wounds after all. Not eating was not healthy. It was better to eat something, even if it was a bitter Q rather than not eating at all, right?

Sanji was silent, contemplating the idea for a few seconds before he nodded. "Okay…, but I don't want to give them to him with my own hands, I mean… personally," Sanji huffed. "I still have a grudge towards him because he called me sickening, and those unbelievable insults…," he was slightly angry while unintentionally remembering the clash at their first meeting. If that long nose hadn't interfered with his loud voice, Sanji would have kicked that marimo's ass.

Sanji didn't continue his words because it would make him remember even more, and he didn't like it, at all.

"Ahaha, Zoro is always like that. You don't have to mind him," Nami said while patting Sanji's back.

"Really?" Sanji looked skeptical. "He gets along fine with Luffy and those guys from the other class," he reasoned.

"Well, Luffy is special, since he's our boss, and Johny and Yosaku are Zoro's childhood's friends. Other than that, Zoro isn't close to anyone. Not even to me and Vivi except for the general friendly thing since we're cute." Nami grinned confidently at Sanji for her exclaim. "He has that mysterious air around him, right? Nobody actually knows the real Zoro. He has those walls that make him secluded from the world outside," she continued, slightly looking afar now.

Vivi looked at Nami with a small smile and squeezed one of her hands. "But Zoro-san is a good guy. We're certain of it," she added softly. "You can take your time to get to know each other, and maybe one day, you will understand things we don't about him."

"Vivi-chan…, Nami-san…," Sanji looked convinced by their explanation. "Uh…, then I suppose, I can forgive him for this morning incident," he said while scratching his cheeks a bit sheepishly.

"Good. He's just not used to Sanji-kun's behavior," Nami replied, smiling.

"I am sure he will warm up to you if you give him something. Consider it as a peace offering?" Vivi added again.

"Great idea, Nami-san! No wonder you're such a wonderful girl! Vivi-chan is also amazing with her magnificent diplomatic thought!" Sanji beamed again, completely ecstatic hearing the girls' smart, intelligent suggestions. Indeed they were very-very marvelous and generous for thinking to make Zoro and Sanji stand on a better ground, for each other at least.

Still, even for Sanji, it wouldn't be that easy to approach Zoro directly. He didn't want to give out any impression that he initiated things between them because he honestly didn't. It was for Nami and Vivi, he convinced himself. And maybe Luffy, he mentally added. But certainly not for the marimo. So, he thought he could do it more… discreetly. No one had to lose, right?

**ZORO—RORONOA—ZORO**

Zoro walked leisurely on the corridor, but of course appeared in guard as he passed in front of the music room. He stopped for a minute to check out the room. He had felt a bad feeling when he stood in front of the door earlier that day. First the nausea, and now the pounding headache. He was still not immune enough to the bad hives emanated from the reis, especially the ones that were threatened to turn into ayakashis.

_Now what…?_—Zoro thought while sighing in defeat. He had to make priorities now since it didn't take long for human's reis to become ayakashi. He had taken a note from his experience with Kuro and the times when he was under Ryuuma's training. He had to make the reis leave _to the other side _before they turned into ayakashi, or he didn't have any choice besides giving his _Sandai Kitetsu_more nutrients.

But doing anything with a real katana in this age, especially at school, was impossible to carry out unless no one saw him, or at least wouldn't report him to the police for katana possession. He was still underage for God's sake. More importantly, Sandai Kitetsu was a historical katana with a very dark past. If the world found out he possessed a katana as controversial as that, he didn't know what the media would say. He couldn't risk his family's name, and honestly didn't want to. He had betrayed his father's trust once; he wouldn't do it again unless it was a life and death situation.

_No choice but to ask the rei to leave then—_Zoro shrugged while sighing lightly again as he thought about going psychic. Connecting wasn't exactly a good memory for him after all. His body still rejected the process. He didn't know about the reis, but it was painful for him.

Zoro opened the door slightly and took a peek inside. There, right beside the black grand piano, a boy in the same uniform as Zoro—only there was the stain of blood on the rei's, stood with dead eyes, pale sickening skin, looking very sad and angry for some reasons. He stared at the grand piano with unexplainable hatred.

Zoro sighed. _A bake-neko_ _wannabe…—_the green haired teen opened the door further and went inside the room before he closed the door lightly, not wanting to surprise the rei. Well, it wasn't like the rei would give any attention to him. Sometimes, reis didn't see anything beside their want and need, and sometimes it pissed Zoro off as well.

Zoro then imposingly walked nearing the piano, slightly fighting the cold feeling and nausea around him. He stopped just close enough, so he could touch the rei, but he did it without alerting the being. He only brushed his hand slightly at the rei's side while pretending wanting to touch the grand piano, but he stopped as the rei glared at him. It seemed the rei didn't want him to touch the piano. Zoro could feel the danger. Even though it was still rei, it seemed he'd been there long enough to develop some power to influence things around him. No wonder there were some accidents involving the students that played this piano. It was just some rumors from the upper classmen when he was still a freshman. He thought it was just a ridiculous coincidence back then, but now he knew the exact reason.

_Well, wise mind comes together with age and experience—_Zoro rolled his eyes. He indeed already experienced the taste of the other world. Didn't mean he had aged that far.

The grand piano had been influenced by bad energy around the rei that it gave an unlucky trait to people that touched it. Zoro noticed the faint misty cover around the piano. The rei seemed very much attached to it and he was definitely on the verge of turning into ayakashi. Zoro had to move faster. He closed his eyes to see the rei's experience and memory.

The rei's name was Osamu Takehito. He was the first candidate to go to national tournament of recital piano from their school. But he got in a nasty accident and died on the way to the recital. He was regretting it so much and got trapped in his desire and obsession to play the piano in that recital and he wouldn't leave before he could win the tournament.

"Ck…," Zoro pulled his hand and ran it through his hair in a troubled look. "This is troublesome," he mumbled quietly. He couldn't help the rei if that was what he wanted. It wasn't like that rei could touch the piano anyway. He had to find another way to help him. He couldn't make the rei play piano, but if he could persuade him using something else….

Someone suddenly barged inside the room, surprising Zoro and the rei slightly. The green haired boy looked over his own shoulder and found the sulking stupid ero-cook there on the doorway. "What are you doing here, Marimo?" he asked suddenly, one hand holding a plastic bag.

"I can ask you the same thing," Zoro's mood turned sour immediately. Seeing the blonde's face made him agitated. He didn't like the way Sanji see his eyes with intruding curiosity.

"I come here because I have business in this room," Sanji walked slowly nearing the piano and Zoro caught a look from the rei that saw Sanji.

Zoro suddenly felt cold when the rei widened his eyes with impossible wideness. His pupil dilated and creepy expression made way on his face. _Uh-oh_!—Zoro thought slightly. He didn't know why, but he felt a very bad feeling when he saw that kind of expression.

That rei lifted his body from the ground slightly and flew closer to Sanji. Zoro froze on his spot, fascinated by the way Sanji could pull the rei nearing him without even knowing. But it wasn't the time to be amazed. If the rei touched Sanji, he didn't know what kind of bad thing would happen to the blonde. Not that he was worried, Sanji couldn't see the rei, and probably he wouldn't blame the rei for the unlucky accident he would get after the touching, but still! Zoro knew it would happen, and not preventing it didn't sit quite right in Zoro's principle. That's why; he brazened himself and cut the way before the rei could touch Sanji.

"Oh? And what business does a guy like you have in this room?" Zoro was pretending to challenge Sanji with the way his body leaning so close at him to block the rei from touching the blonde. In result, he had to tilt his face closer at Sanji's as well. Too close to his comfort, but he didn't have any choice! Damn, their noses were almost touching!

Zoro appeared cool and challenging with over-confident smirk, his poker face characteristic, but the close proximity actually bothered him to the high uncomfortable level. He couldn't believe he had to do something like this only to block the contact between the rei and Sanji.

"Not your fucking business," Sanji replied coldly. "Step aside, Marimo." he commanded with sharp, annoyed look and tone.

"And if I don't want to?" Zoro's voice almost threatening, but somehow, inside the twisted part of Zoro's mind, it sounded infuriatingly close to flirting. Zoro wanted to back off hurriedly, but he couldn't because the rei was still behind him, and if he backed off, the rei would touch Sanji. He chose to suck up the humiliation rather than endangering other people's life.

"Then I'll make you," Sanji's voice was low, almost whispering if Zoro knew better, his tone was a bit sensual and bothering even for Zoro's annoyed and panicked mind. He also narrowed his eyes and his body tensed slightly, appearing wanting to do _something_ which probably would infuriate the hell out of Zoro-yet he wasn't sure-, but of course Zoro wouldn't let it.

"Try me," Zoro challenged more with a cocky face, but it was halted by the sudden loud sound of stomach growling.

Sanji blinked once while Zoro was deadpanned.

"Are you going to kiss?" Luffy's face came between the two from the other side of the grand piano.

Zoro and Sanji turned their faces at Luffy. "luffy!" Zoro was surprised and freaked out by Luffy's sudden appearance and comment.

"Why would I want to kiss this marimo!" Sanji protested heatedly, face slightly blushing.

"Well, you looked like almost kissing though," Luffy grinned widely.

"No way!" Both Zoro and Sanji shouted in unison and glared at each other after that.

Just then Zoro realized something. _Huh?_—he looked around. The room was surprisingly _cleaner_ from before. _And HOLY SHIT! Luffy touches the grand piano!_—the green haired boy widened his eyes in disbelief. Not only that, the bad hives were already dissipating and somehow… the rei was….

Zoro was fascinated as he saw the cleansing process. Slowly, the room was being washed by something emanating from Luffy's air. The rei was having trouble nearing them.

_This is…! Luffy has a very strong haki!_—Zoro realized then that Luffy's presence there purified the room and created barrier around Sanji and Zoro, strong enough to exclude the rei away from them. Luffy couldn't see or hear, but Zoro knew that haki was latent ability and didn't have any to do with the ability to see or hear. Luffy was born with strong haki and he didn't even know he emanated it out like breathing out carbon dioxide.

"Why are you hanging your jaw open like that, Zoro? Playing dead fish?" Luffy asked, getting curious for being stared at oddly by his best friend.

"Huh? Uh…," Zoro snapped back from his train of thought and he slowly grinned. "You're really an interesting fella, Luffy," he then laughed while Luffy was staring at him back peculiarly. Really, Luffy fitted the nickname of wondrous boy. He was just surprising in every aspect, Zoro never got bored around him. Even in this crazy un-living being world, Zoro still could counted on him.

"Freak," Sanji rolled his eyes, looking completely bored at the weird scene in front of him.

"What did you say!" But of course, the ero-cook had to ruin the atmosphere. Zoro glared at Sanji once again while Sanji dismissively flailed his hand at him.

"Anyway, what are you doing here, Luffy?" It seemed the blond haired cook decided to ignore Zoro completely and started his conversation with Luffy.

Zoro cursed at the blond boy through his teeth.

"Sanji, I am hungry! Give me some food!" Luffy demanded childishly and Zoro wanted to laugh at Sanji's flabbergasted expression as he threw a dirty look at Luffy.

"I am not your _goddamn _refrigerator, Luffy!" Sanji hissed.

"Eeh, but that's the requirement of you to be included in our circle! You have to cook for me!" Luffy pouted cutely and Sanji looked baffled.

"Yeah, or you won't be able to get closer to that _witch_ and Vivi," Zoro added thoughtfully, knowing it would add Sanji's misery.

"Don't call Nami-san like that!" Sanji snapped at Zoro and attempted to kick him in the head, but of course Zoro could dodge the attack fluidly, while wondering why Sanji recognized the nickname he gave for Nami despite his first time hearing it from Zoro's mouth.

_No way would he think like that as well, right?_—Zoro narrowed his eyes at Sanji again, trying to analyze him.

"Stop dodging!" Sanji had begun to screech now and his attacks became more vicious that Zoro needed both hands to deflate some of them.

"Cool! Do that backward flip, San-chan!" Luffy cheered now, encouraging the blond to attack more.

Zoro had to gasp in surprise when Sanji tossed the plastic bag to the piano, jumped salto-ing backwards, bent his body impossibly low and put his hands as groundings before lifting his legs up, and then started the incredible roundhouse kicks that caught Zoro off guard.

"Whoah!" Zoro couldn't help yelping as he crouched down to dodge, but not fast enough and one blow of kick effectively sent him two meters behind. The green haired boy had to grab the tip of the grand piano to lessen the flying impact.

_Nami wasn't joking when she said this guy was strong!_—Zoro had to admit despite not wanting to. The blow was quite painful... especially on his healing wound.

"Cool! I know you're awesome, San-chan!" Luffy cheered again enthusiastically. It seemed he was excited seeing Zoro's ass kicked by the blond boy. That irritated Zoro a _lot_.

_Good thing I'm not holding any of my katanas right now. I really want to cut that asshole in pieces!_—Zoro narrowed his eyes dangerously at Sanji who looked rather smug after successfully landing a blow to Zoro's body and his _ego_ for some reason. He was caught off guard because he thought Sanji was just a skinny pompous jackass without power. It seemed he had made a slight mistake regarding his strength.

But the thing that pissed him off more was the fact that Luffy seemed on Sanji's side rather than on him. "Why are you taking his side, Luffy?" Zoro scowled at his best friend.

"Huh? What are you talking about Zoro? I am not taking anyone's side. I am taking my _stomach_ side," Lufft grinned completely amused at Zoro's dismay. Sanji snorted at.

Zoro rolled his eyes at Luffy. "You and the black hole called your stomach…," he grunted in annoyance subtly before he poured his attention back to Sanji, who was still maintaining his smug face and his stance. "You've got some skills there, pretty boy. I'll make sure to take you seriously," he smirked at him then, full of challenge.

"Huh, got a last word?" Sanji mirrored Zoro's expression, and when both were about to attack each other, the bell suddenly rang… _again_.

Both Zoro and Sanji groaned at the same time. What's with this school bell timing? As much as they wanted to continue to test each other's ability, skipping class wasn't an option. Of course, Zoro realized that Sanji was a new student, and he definitely wouldn't want to get in trouble for being only for a month there; and Zoro was just recovered and came back to school. With the number of classes he already missed during his recovery time, he couldn't afford to lose more or he would have to repeat a year.

"Aww, too bad the class almost starts again," Luffy whined at that before he ran out of the room immediately, leaving Sanji and Zoro alone in the music room.

Zoro often wondered why Luffy could be accepted in their prestigious school in the first place. He was the synonym of trouble maker all the time. How come he hadn't been expelled yet after all of the mischief he (and his gang) had done? Aah… probably because they had Vivi in their circle, Zoro should have known. That princess could always clean up their mess after all… with her _power _of course.

"You're lucky marimo, saved by the bell." Sanji put down his leg and turned around to leave the room shortly after Luffy was no longer in sight.

Zoro wanted to retort back that Sanji was the lucky one that Zoro wasn't with his katana or he would have minced the guy, but decided it wasn't worth it, wasting his breath on a womanizer like him. He then noticed the plastic bag on the piano, and quickly called him before Sanji was gone as well. "Oi, curly eyebrow!" Yep, Zoro refused to call Sanji by his name for his amusement sake.

"Who are you calling curly eyebrow!" Sanji yelled from the corridor, face turning at him in visible anger for the insulting nickname.

"You left your bag on the piano," Zoro didn't bother to care about the displayed furry instead, reminded the blonde's forgotten goods.

"That's from Nami-san and Vivi-chan for you," Sanji scowled. "Be grateful and finish them," he added before he was also gone from Zoro's sight.

Zoro was stunned for a second before he took the plastic bag and peeked on the inside. He saw two white boxes and took one of them to examine it before he opened the cap. He raised his eyebrows in a confused look as he saw the green cake. "I never knew those girls can cook, let alone, make dessert like this," Zoro said oddly to himself despite the suspicious green color. Was desert—or _cake_ in this case—usually in green? What an unappetizing color.

Indeed Zoro had never recalled seeing Nami or Vivi cook. Nami could probably cook _the basic stuff _since she was living alone with her surrogate sister, Nojiko, but he doubted she could make a desert like a patisserie; and Vivi was a _princess_ for earth sake. She didn't even need to cook for herself with hundreds of chefs in her _palace_ she called a house.

_These can't be from them. Moreover, Nami will make me pay for this treat…—_Zoro couldn't help thinking slowly; trying to guess what was the meaning of the gifts. Still, his thought was momentarily disrupted by the growl of his stomach. _Shit. I haven't eaten yet… no wonder I am hungry_—the green haired teen then remembered about his cancelled lunch due to the certain disgusting rei. Anyway, if the cake was for him, he didn't want to waste it. Well, even though the color looked _bitter_.

Zoro took a bite of the desert and widened his eyes in supreme surprise as he felt the cake melt inside his mouth. He couldn't resist groaning at the exquisite taste of the food as he ate that first bite. It wasn't really sweet, just right and precise for him since he didn't really like sweets, and the minty flavor was rich, fresh, and very delicious. It was the first time he tasted something as wonderful as that cake. It's purely heaven and downright _orgasmic_.

"I can't believe that word even crosses my mind, let alone associates with _food_," Zoro groaned again as he seemed unable to stop from taking another blissful bite of the cake. He would make sure to thank Nami and Vivi later for the treat. Well, it was from them according to the blond idiot, even though Zoro was 100 percent sure that there was no way in the hell that those girls made the dessert. It was beyond their capability. It was truly masterpiece. He should ask them from where they got the stuff. He'd like to buy some and take them home for Smoker as well later.

Zoro was quite satisfied when he left the music room after finishing the second cake in lightning speed. The rei he encountered earlier was momentarily forgotten as he hurriedly got back to his class, trying to catch the time before his teacher arrived for the next lesson.

**ZORO—RORONOA—ZORO**

Zoro hadn't had chance to talk to Nami or Vivi as the rest of the day went by since the lesson schedule was pretty tight, at least for him. Apparently, the teachers were pretty concerned on how _long_ (and how much) Zoro had missed their lessons, and decided to drill his brain with lots of stuffs and formulas to catch up with the others. He had no problem with math and physic since his logic was pretty awesome, but he had a lot of trouble with history. As Ryuuma had mentioned, even though Zoro didn't want to admit it, he wasn't really strong on that subject. He couldn't help it. They're totally boring!

Zoro had to stay longer in school for extra lessons and his extracurricular activity. He wasn't allowed to touch _shinai_ (2) for sometime though, since his _sensei_ was still concerned about his wound. Of course Zoro didn't tell him about the illegal match, he just settled with the story of assault with sharp weapon. He couldn't tell him even if Zoro wanted to. He would be expelled if he did that.

Around 08.30 p.m., Zoro was done for the day. Actually, he had past the school hours. The school guard would probably yell at him for staying after hour, but he didn't have any choice. Blame his teacher for it. He sighed as he changed his indoor shoes to his outdoor shoes in front of the locker just before the building entrance. "What a day," he said, feeling a bit tired while wearing his dark green cotton scarf. It was kinda cold outside. After that he was all set and ready to go home to Smoker's house.

Zoro walked out the school building, and was about to leave the school ground when he heard something from behind. He stopped and looked back at the building. He was momentarily disoriented as the building began to blur.

"Huh?" Zoro blinked once and rubbed his eyes. "What was that?" He was a bit confused. He was sure the other scenery wasn't blurring, so it couldn't be his eyes. Why was the building blurring?

Suddenly wind was blowing hard on his face and he heard that sound again. _Music?_ Then he saw the light from the window of one of the classroom, and suddenly remembered about the rei he had left this afternoon. "Crap!" He totally forgot about the cursed piano in the music room! Zoro heard a piano playing. That wasn't a good sign at all.

The green haired boy hurriedly came back inside the building, not bothering to change his shoes again and went straight to the music room where he could hear the source of the music. He tried to open the door; surprisingly not feeling any nauseating feeling which was supposed to be coming from inside the room. However, it seemed the teacher already locked it since the door wouldn't open. "Shit!"

Zoro contemplated to kick down the door, but decided against it since he wouldn't be able to explain why he would do something like _breaking the door in school ground_, to the teacher tomorrow morning. Well, unless he didn't tell anyone that he was the one who broke the door; that was. He then remembered his lesson with Ryuuma. His _sishou_ had taught him to pick the lock. Zoro didn't understand why he taught Zoro that technique, but it was necessary for survival, he said.

Now Zoro understood. It was in a case like _this_ that lock-picking was necessary.

Zoro took out a paperclip from his pants pocket, and then straightened the string to get a pointed part. He probed the keyhole, twisted and tweaked it until he heard a _'click'_ sound. He hurriedly opened the door and widened his eyes as he found 'who' was inside the room not _'what'_.

"Curly eyebrow!" Zoro pointed at Sanji who was calmly playing the piano, with a shock. "What in the world are you doing, playing a piano at a time like this?" he was totally confused. He didn't find Takehito, the rei, there, and found Sanji instead.

_What the hell?—_Zoro didn't know if Sanji didn't hear him or he purposely ignored him (Zoro had a strong suspicion that it was the later), but Sanji didn't even flinch as Zoro barged in and started yelling at him.

"Hey, you hear me! Stop playing the goddamn piano!" Zoro didn't want to sound concerned or worried about the blond, but his voice betrayed him slightly as it came out higher and tenser than his usual calm tone. He didn't know what kind of accident would befall Sanji if he kept playing the piano. He only knew that the rei would be pissed off and it would endanger Sanji.

Sanji didn't stop playing, didn't even show any indication that he heard what Zoro was saying. It was really weird since Zoro already shouted at him. "What the fuck—! Are you deaf!" Zoro began to get frustrated for not getting any response from the blond. "Hey, answer me dartbrow!" He was getting angry by seconds. Sanji was really an asshole for ignoring him like that despite his concern—, shit, scratch that. He was totally unconcerned about that blond womanizer, ever!

However, when Zoro saw Sanji still playing undisturbed, never seeming to acknowledge Zoro's presence there, Zoro couldn't decide if he was concentrating or he was in trance. Or he was plainly autistic. Anyway, it wasn't normal. It was weird in Zoro's eyes. Something felt off. Sanji's visible eye was indeed focused on the white toots, and his playing was… well… too _incredible_. Even though Zoro wasn't a big fan of classic music, he knew what piece was being played. It was _The Ninth Piece _by Beethoven. Zoro couldn't believe Sanji could play that well. It was entrancing and beautiful, but still, it was weird! Like… totally, absolutely weird! Something was definitely wrong with that picture.

_Something…!_

Then Zoro realized what was wrong as he looked at Sanji in scrutinizing gaze. The one playing the piano… it wasn't Sanji. He didn't know where the crazy thought came from, but his guts told him it wasn't him. It was different. Something was totally alien there.

By the time Zoro was about to yank Sanji's shoulder to stop him, the blond had already finished his playing and turned his face at Zoro. Zoro didn't know why, but in his eyes, Sanji's eye color was different from before. It wasn't baby blue anymore. It was darker… almost black.

"_I did it splendidly, thank you."_ Sanji said with a small satisfied smile.

"Huh?" Zoro was stunned and was totally surprised when suddenly Sanji's body collapsed from the chair. "Oi!" Zoro caught his body before it hit the ground. "Curly eyebrow! Hey, you ok?" He slapped Sanji's face a few times to wake him up. "Oi!" but Sanji wouldn't bulge.

_What the hell just happened here?_—Zoro was really confused. He didn't understand. One minute Sanji was still playing and the next he said '_I did it splendidly, thank you'_ before passing out? It was totally odd and weird. What did he do splendidly and why would he thank Zoro? It just didn't make any sense to the green haired teen.

_Speaking about passing out_…—Zoro then let Sanji lay down on the floor and checked out his breath and vital sign. At least the ero-blond idiot was still breathing and had his pulses.

Zoro sighed in relief at that before he noticed something different again in the room. It was lighter than this afternoon. The air, he meant. He couldn't feel any presence anymore there. That was another weird thing. He was sure that the rei this afternoon was an earthbound spirit. It shouldn't be able to move around. He was supposed to get attached to the piano. But now… his presence was just completely gone, from the room and from the piano. He had never seen something like this before. Impossible that Sanji just now was… _possessed_?

_Can rei really do that? Like in some films?_—Zoro was in a deep thought as he stared at Sanji's unconscious face. _But that doesn't explain why the presence is gone. I need to ask to Smoker or Ryuuma about this…_

A few seconds later then, Sanji began to groan as his consciousness was back, earning attention from Zoro.

_But first, I need to interrogate this guy_—Zoro decided then, watching as Sanji's eyes flutter open.

**ZORO—RORONOA—ZORO**

Sanji felt a sudden loss of something heavy on his body before he woke up to the world outside his slumber. The first thing he saw the moment he opened his eyes was the blinding light on the ceiling. He groaned soundly at the intruding beam on his delicate eye. "The fuck…?" Sanji shook his head slightly before he realized that he was on a hard floor. "What the—?" Confused, he got up to sit while tapping the ceramic floor.

"Woke up already?"

Sanji's head snapped at the sudden low baritone voice coming near him, eyes wide as he was greeted by the sight of the owner. "Aaah! What the fuck are you doing here, marimo!" he almost screeched, _almost_, while pointing his finger at Zoro. He was mildly shocked. Why on earth would Zoro be there in his room…!

Sanji then looked around him with a more shocked look as he realized something _major_. "Where the hell am I!" He wasn't in his room! Why wouldn't he be in his own room? He remembered falling asleep in his room! What the hell happened here?

While Sanji was in a shocked panicked state, Zoro only stared, studying him carefully, and eventually getting on Sanji's nerves. "What!" he barked at the green haired idiot.

"You don't remember how you got here?" Zoro asked then, face slightly intrigued despite his usual poker face.

"I don't! I remember coming home and helping my dad for awhile in his kitchen before falling asleep in my own room," Sanji tried to remember more, but his memory was a little vague. "What the hell happened here? Where is this?" He then gave up trying to remember, and began to look around to find out where he was right then.

"It's the school music room," Zoro provided the answer slowly, still staring at him as if he was a specimen or something. Sanji was really uncomfortable with his stare, but he wouldn't admit it, not to this marimo that his gaze made Sanji want to squirm somehow. And fuck, Sanji didn't squirm! Never!

"The school music room? Why the fuck would I be in the school music room?" Sanji set his confused look at Zoro. It was absolutely mystifying.

"How the hell should I know? I want to ask you the same thing," Zoro replied with a raised eyebrow.

_Jeez! He and his too fucking calm demeanor!_—Sanji scowled slightly as he saw how infuriatingly composed Zoro was despite Sanji's confusing state. Sanji was still puzzled. He didn't understand why he was there, in the music room. He didn't recall when he got to school again, and _why_. He couldn't explain this anomaly.

_Just like that time…!_—Sanji frowned as he remembered something nasty. He bit his left thumb nail as he thought the worst.

"What's wrong?" Zoro asked then.

Sanji glared at Zoro heatedly. "Not your fucking business," he said a bit too harshly, but Zoro didn't look surprised. He just kept staring at Sanji until the blond couldn't stand it. "Stop staring, asshole! I am not a fucking show!" he yelled angrily.

Zoro's stare seemed intensified by seconds, and Sanji started to squirm for real now. _Damn it!_—Sanji hated that green sea anemone!

"Fine, damn it! I admit it! I have this fucking bad sleeping habit!" Sanji gave up then, confessing all together.

"Sleeping habit?" Zoro narrowed his eyes for a moment before raising both of his eyebrow, seeming asking Sanji to explain what _'this bad sleeping habit'_ was.

"Sometimes I get this… this sleepwalking thing when I am too tired before bed. Then when I wake up, I end up in the entirely different place from where I fall asleep. I have no recollection of what I have done when I am sleepwalking. Just… sometime it gets so bad that I can sleepwalk for _days_ without waking up. It should have been cured sometimes ago before an _accident_ happened," Sanji stopped there, clicking his tongue and biting his lower lip, not wanting to continue the real reason why he was in Japan in the first place.

_I can't possibly say that I was kicked out of my own nation for grounding a major accident that caused disaster there, can't I? Especially if I don't fucking remember what I have done to cause it!_—Sanji was exhausted. He hated it when he didn't know what to do or what happened.

Sometimes it was annoying as hell that Sanji didn't have any control of his own body. But the most maddening thing here was the fact that he had to explain to this idiotic moss-headed-one-celled-marimo. He had no obligation to answer him whatsoever, but somehow, he thought it would be good to have someone to share his worry. At least, the marimo already saw him when he was sleepwalking. There was no point in lying to him. Besides, getting him as a cover would be benefitting. That way, he wouldn't have to take the trouble to explain his _condition_ to his other friends. Not that Zoro was his _friend_ or anything. He had only met the guy today after all.

"Are you sure it was a _disease_?" Zoro asked again, slowly, eyes glinting with something akin to dangerous, but Sanji didn't know what he was thinking at that time.

"It's a _condition_, not a disease," Sanji scowled at him for accusing him being sick. He hated to admit it, but he indeed needed medication for his problem. Didn't mean he was _sick_, though.

"No, I mean…," Zoro paused for a moment, intriguing Sanji completely now.

"What?" Sanji looked at Zoro expectantly.

"You've never suspected that your sleepwalking is caused by _something else_ aside your condition?" the green haired teen inquired mysteriously.

"What the hell do you mean by something else? What else?" Sanji was getting confused by now. Zoro's question didn't make any sense to Sanji. Normally, people would ask when his sleepwalking started or what the doctor said about it, but never asking something as if he had an idea of the alternative cause of his sleepwalking habit.

Sanji was slowly gazing at Zoro who seemed in a deep thought, before he set his serious gaze at Sanji again. "Tell me if you remember anything when you're in your 'sleepwalking' state," he said.

"Huh? Why would I want to do that?" Sanji asked, bewildered. Why would someone get interested to his weird condition?

"It's important that I know," Zoro said again with that mysterious air around him, tickling Sanji's curiosity.

"What is it for you, Marimo? Are you in some kind of experiment or something? Observing my abnormal habit, that is?" He couldn't help the sarcasm dripping out of his tone. He would definitely kill the green haired asshole if he made Sanji his subject in his fucked up experiment.

"Nothing like that," Zoro gazed at Sanji's eyes again intensely, but oddly assuring, making Sanji feel strangely protected in some kind of bizarre reason. The blond berated and kicked his own head mentally at the weird thought. "Just in case… if it's getting out of hand," Zoro continued slowly, almost whispering, probably not intending to say it out loud, but Sanji caught it anyway.

"What do you mean… getting out of hand?" Sanji's gaze was also transfixed in Zoro's dark emerald eyes. He didn't know why, but the more he saw the dark deep green forest-color, the more he felt lost in it.

"Sometimes, bad things just happen, and can't be explained by science only" was the only vague response Zoro gave Sanji as he backed off, stood up and left.

"What the hell—?" Sanji couldn't help looking at Zoro's back as he got out of the music room. The blond then sat there on the floor for some more times, alone. "What he meant by it anyway?" He was still confused. Bad things? What bad things? Zoro really didn't make any sense to him, but somehow, he caught one thing.

_It's important for him to know what I remember when I am sleepwalking, does that mean it's important for him to know that I am okay?_

Even though that thought crossed Sanji's head fairly fast, he wasn't really sure. But seeing Zoro's intense and serious gaze when he spoke to him earlier, he had an odd feeling that it was true.

**ZORO—RORONOA—ZORO**

By the time Zoro got out of the school building, it was already 9.00 p.m.

"Shit…, the guard will definitely yell at me for sure," Zoro sighed dejectedly. Not a good record for the first time coming to school after absent for more than two months. He wondered if he could bribe the school guard not to make him sign the report. He hated dealing with the administration.

While walking slowly to the gate and quietly musing about the event with Sanji before, suddenly his stomach was grumbling. Zoro groaned at that, and the _'why Sanji acting weird'_ matter was immediately forgotten.

_Great. Now I remember I haven't eaten anything since this afternoon, except maybe those small heavenly delicious cakes_—Zoro sighed more at that. AS mouth-watering as those green cakes could be, they were still not enough to fill his hunger, and he was damn hungry right then. _Maybe I should stop by some ramen vendor or such…_.

"Wait! Marimo!"

Zoro groaned more as he heard that voice and the insult it did to his name. Apparently, the shitty cook decided to follow him out. Zoro turned his face at the intruding blonde sourly. "What?" He didn't mean to bark, but his irritated tone indeed sounded like one.

"I haven't finished talking yet. I still have many fucking things to ask…!" But Sanji's rant was ruthlessly cut by the loud rumbling sound of Zoro's stomach. Sanji actually blinked dumbly at that, and Zoro couldn't help blushing a bit while looking at another way; anywhere but at Sanji's direction. "You're hungry." That, according to Zoro's sure mind, was a statement.

"So? I haven't eaten anything filling since afternoon," Zoro had to grumble through his teeth to hide his shame.

"What the hell are you doing here then, until this late?" Sanji looked confused, but as well as sympathetic.

"I've got a lot to catch up with. I refuse to be the clueless one when we're learning in class," Zoro said coolly. "Now, if you'll excuse me. I have to go home and do my homework," he said as he turned his body again to leave.

"Ah, wait a sec. Why don't you come to my house? I'll treat you to something," Sanji offered while walking following him.

Zoro turned his face at Sanji again while furrowing curiously. "What's this?" he asked, ultimately confused by the sudden proposal. He thought Sanji hated his guts; or him, generally. Why would Sanji treat him?

"I am a cook, asshole. How can I let someone starve when I am around?" Sanji mocked with his irritating tone, but Zoro was pretty surprised at his dedication.

"Even if it's someone you hate?" Zoro asked, still in disbelief.

Sanji frowned slightly at that seeming wanting to protest. He opened his mouth and closed it again, like he was having a second thought on what he was going to say, before "It doesn't have anything to do with that. People getting hungry are normal, and everyone is the same when they're hungry. They need food," Sanji said with a long gaze then, not looking at Zoro. It seemed, there was something he was remembering, but Zoro didn't really want to know about that.

"It's late," he still wanted to tease the shitty blond cook though.

"Shut up, marimo. You're hungry and I can provide you with food freely. You're going with me and it's final," Sanji insisted with a scowl on his face. Zoro didn't know why he was so persistent, but it seemed it had something to do with his principle; and Zoro was not about to insult that principle. Zoro also lived with a lot of principles and he wouldn't appreciate it if someone trampled on them.

"Well, okay. I am not about to turn down free food," Zoro lifted his shoulders while focusing his gaze back at the gate, and pretended not to notice the dazzling small smile Sanji was making right now. How he found the shitty blond cook's smile dazzling was a puzzle even for him. He hated that guy's behavior, remember?

Nearing the gate, the guard really showed up and really did scold Zoro, and Sanji as an addition, of course, for being there that late at night.

"I was working on a project of the school paper and Blackleg was helping me," Zoro lied to the guard. Sanji raised his eyebrow at him, but he didn't say anything. "Please don't tell the teacher. It's emergency," he continued slightly pleading, but with serious flat tone.

The guard looked at Zoro skeptically and then at Sanji.

"It's big, and we can't work it at home," the blond supported the lie and Zoro raised his eyebrows at him as well. Not knowing why Sanji helped him, but Zoro was grateful that Sanji matched his story with him. He didn't need to explain why he lied after all.

"Fine then, but I still need you to sign the board for staying late at school," the guard said with a huff. He seemed really hard to be deterred from the school rules.

Zoro sighed and nodded in agreement. At least he wouldn't get questioned by the teachers tomorrow if he already signed the board. Zoro followed the guard to the guard's post and Sanji was hot on his heels, following him silently. As soon as they arrived at the post, the guard opened the sliding door of the room and entered to get his board. Zoro and Sanji stayed outside.

Zoro yawned slightly before he noticed something inside the room. There was a child sitting on the sofa near the table. Zoro was taken aback by the presence of the small, shoulder-length black haired girl. She looked no older than six or seven year old. What on earth was she doing in a guard post this late at night in the senior high school?

Before Zoro had a chance to call her though, the guard already came back with his board and a pen. "Here, write your name here and sign here," he said while pointing at the rows on which Zoro had to fill. Zoro nodded and wrote down as instructed.

Finishing his obligation, Zoro returned the board. "Thanks," he said. "By the way, who is that little girl? Your kid?" he asked out of curiosity then.

"What little girl?" the guard looked confused.

"Ah? There at your…," Zoro tensed and slightly turned pale as he realized what he was looking at. The girl…, who was supposed to sit down, was actually not sitting at all. The lower part of her body, from waist to legs, was nowhere. He could see the dripping blood smearing and pooling on the floor.

_Shit…!_—Zoro couldn't help gulping as the little girl slowly lifting her face, her _bloody_ face at him, actually meeting his gaze. One of her eyeballs was popped out and hanging on its socket. If Zoro hadn't been used to the horror by now, he would have screamed bloody murder at the frightening sight. However, since the rei, _he assumed_, wasn't doing anything but looking at him with her still intake bloody eye, Zoro could only stone on his spot, not daring any sudden movement that might alert the guard in front of him and Sanji behind him.

"What?" the guard began to look wary at the sudden quietness of him.

"Huh?" Zoro was startled for a moment from his stupor before he acknowledged him. "Oh, um… no, nothing. I just want to tease you," he said, pretending to grin even though inside he panicked a bit. That was close.

"Jeez, don't tease an older person like that, Roronoa," the guard scolded him with a frown on his face.

"Sorry. Have fun guarding the school then, old man," he said as he turned his body to leave, after another short lasting glance at the bloody rei, of course. She probably was just lonely and needed company. He decided that the rei was harmless enough for now. It was just a kid after all.

Zoro then glanced slightly at the blond cook behind him. If Sanji noticed something there, he didn't say a word, and silently followed Zoro getting out of the school. It wasn't lasting though, when the moment they stepped on the road, Sanji asked. "What was that just now?"

"What _what_?" Zoro sighed long. So much for being discreet. He wasn't about to confess that he could see rei to Sanji despite what he might have suspected after his observation.

"You saw something there, didn't you? A little girl?" Zoro almost groaned seeing the knowing glint in Sanji's eyes, but he just frowned at the blond. No way would he know that. He couldn't see a damn thing.

"I am not trying to destroy your fun, but I don't know what you're talking about," Zoro evaded the question in annoyance. The guy was such a pest. He didn't want to deal with explaining things right now.

"Really? Cause' I don't buy the shit you were telling that old man just now, not a bit. A tease? I'm not blind you know. Your expression was the look of a total fucked up," Sanji smirked at him.

Zoro sighed then and scratched his head for awhile. No point in lying at this position. He changed his mind then. "Fine, but I want a word from you that this conversation won't leave us." Zoro gave him a warning glare and Sanji lifted his right hand.

"Not a word will leave my mouth," he promised the green haired boy, going as far as lifting one of his hands as a vow.

Zoro nodded then. "Okay, so… Do you believe in afterlife?" he began while resuming his walk.

Sanji was silent for a moment before saying "I am not skeptic about supernatural beings, but I've never seen one, so I don't know if they're real or not," while following him again, this time his step matching Zoro so they were in the same level.

"Just because we can't see them, it doesn't mean they don't exist," Zoro said again and Sanji nodded slowly. "I can see those beings," the green haired boy added.

There was a pause of breath between the two before "I see…," Sanji responded to him unsurely.

"You don't believe me, do you?" Zoro could guess right away from Sanji's scrunched expression.

"Well, you have no actual evidence to proof that you can see them," Sanji didn't make any excuse. Zoro actually respected that kind of honesty.

"Doesn't matter. I don't need your approval anyway," Zoro chuckled. "I also didn't believe that they exist at first, before I _died_," he continued with a small understanding smile.

Sanji widened his visible blue eye slightly at the revelation, his jaw hanging a bit. "What?" He looked like a fish out of water, and Zoro was trying not to laugh at his face.

"I died you know, for an hour before I came back to life," Zoro told him with a confident smirk.

"But… how? I meant…," Sanji opened and closed his mouth in a perplexed look, seeming not knowing what to say to that. Zoro had a good guess on what Sanji wanted to ask though. It wasn't everyday that you're resurrected from the death after all. He probably wanted to know how that could happen, but it wasn't like Zoro had the answer because he himself actually didn't know _how_.

"Ouch, why am I telling you this? That's new." Zoro winced as he realized what he was doing. He had no idea of _why_, but he wanted to share some of his experience. He could actually do that with Luffy or Usopp or his two childhood friends, Johny and Yosaku (he insisted to leave the girls out of this), but he had a strong feeling that those guys would just laugh at him if he told them that. Moreover, he had this silly part in his mind that wanted to test it, and to get a reaction from this blond idiotic cook first before his friends.

Sanji wasn't Zoro's closest friend. Not _yet_ anyway, even though Luffy already put him inside their circle. He hadn't trusted him, not when they had just met today and he already gave a bad impression on Zoro. Therefore, he didn't have any fear if Sanji regarded Zoro as a freak. Zoro probably just brushed him off easily and ignored him completely, but it was totally different with his closest friends. He didn't want to jeopardize his relationship with his closest friends over his new abilities. He wasn't really sure of how they would react on it after all despite his trust. Each was on his or her own after all. It wasn't like he wanted to hide his ability, no of course not. He only wanted to find a good time to reveal it to his friends, after he and they were ready, that was.

"You haven't told Luffy and the others?" Sanji was stunned as he seemed realizing what Zoro meant with his weird question.

"I wasn't ready to share," Zoro replied shortly.

"And you're telling me because…?" Sanji looked confused.

"Because you're still a stranger, and your opinion doesn't matter to me," Zoro continued.

"Oh," Sanji then quieted down, not speaking on the rest of the way except where to go to his house.

Zoro suspected that Sanji was a little offended of the way Zoro spoke and regarded him, but it didn't really show in his expression. Anyway, it was the truth. Zoro wouldn't lie over something so fundamental like that.

Some minutes later, they arrived in front of a closed restaurant. It was quite close to the school. How convenient. Sanji stopped and turned at him. "Welcome to my house," he said with a hint of pride in his tone.

"Barratie… a French restaurant?" Zoro raised his eyebrows. He wasn't a fan of French cuisine, but he wouldn't refuse to try.

"It's my father's, but someday I'll take over it," Sanji grinned while opening the unlocked door. "Crap, I forgot to lock the door when I am sleepwalking," he visibly winced at that fact. "Dad's going to kill me if he found out," he muttered with a rather pale face.

"Since when have you had that condition?" Zoro asked then, curious of his early suspicion that Sanji might be possessed by rei even though he wasn't sure if rei could really posses people that _easily_. Shouldn't Sanji be _hurt_ by that?

"I wonder when you're gonna ask," Sanji muttered again while opening the door and let Zoro in the already dark restaurant. "Just sit wherever you want; and I won't tell you anything before I prepare the food, so just sit your ass down and fucking wait," he quickly added while walking to the direction of the other room that Zoro assumed as the kitchen and turning on some light while he was at it.

"Okay," Zoro replied slowly while choosing the closest table from the kitchen.

While he was waiting, Zoro looked around inside the restaurant. High class restaurant, it seemed. There were a lot of shiny fragile things there. On the wall was a big portrait… no, a painting of someone. Zoro narrowed his eyes to look a bit closely. It was a painting of a woman with silk long golden hair in a black Victorian gown. Even in Zoro's eyes, she was really beautiful. Her eyes were really clear blue like the color of sky. The artist must have been someone famous. She looked really alive in the painting.

Zoro admired the painting for a moment before he turned to look at the round tables and the chairs that seemed made from good polished woods, probably. Not that Zoro knew anything about woods. There was a counter in the back, probably selling wines and boozes. Zoro wanted to try some of the alcoholic drinks, though he preferred Sake. Yeah, yeah, he was still minor, but it didn't mean he never violated one or two rules, right? Look how he ended up with the mess in the first place. Drinking sake was just a little part of it.

_But if I go home drunk, though I've never been drunk before, Smoker will kill me_—Zoro sighed dejectedly. He began to regret letting Smoker be his guardian. At least he was never got caught drinking by his family, but Smoker was a cop, and a good one, damn him. He would surely know if Zoro had been drinking. He wouldn't want to risk that. The last thing he wanted was a permanent criminal record in his life.

While he was busy pondering inside his head on his chair then, it seemed time went faster because suddenly Sanji was back with a big dinner. Zoro's thought was immediately interrupted by the delicious aroma from the food on Sanji's tray. He was practically almost salivating when the cuisines were presented in front of his nose. Did French food look that good?

"I make you something easy to dig in," Sanji said while sitting in front of him after putting a glass of mineral water on the table.

"These are _easy_?" Zoro peered at him in disbelief. Sanji practically provided him with a complete dinner, from the appetizer, which was a bowl of soup, until the dessert. Was that a cup of ice cream? He didn't even know how to react at that. Luffy seemed not bullshitting him that Sanji really _could_ cook.

"I can make food for one hundred people if you want to," Sanji smirked at Zoro proudly.

"Yeah, right," Zoro shook his head at that.

"Go on and eat," Sanji said.

Zoro was about to dig in when he remembered his house custom. He put down his spoon and clasped both of his hands on front of his face. "_Itadakimasu_," he said with closed eyes, and then he began to eat the soup. He almost groaned as he tasted the amazing cuisine which name he didn't even know, but he could hold himself together from humiliating himself in front of the ero-cook. He wasn't about to let Sanji have all the fun teasing him for that after all. Though, it seemed his expression gave him out as Sanji continually smirked at him.

"Fucking delicious, right?" The blond actually smiled cheerily at Zoro, and he couldn't decide whether he wanted to groan because of the exquisite taste in his mouth or because of that sunshine smile.

_Damn it! What the fuck am I thinking!_—Zoro couldn't hold the heat that was rising to his face, but he could cover it up by coughing slightly and covering his face partially. He couldn't believe that he was thinking like that. He meant, _what the hell?_ It was Blackleg Sanji, the idiotic ero-womanizer that ticked him off the moment Zoro saw him for earth sake.

Well, not at that moment when he looked just like an angel descended to earth the _very first time_ Zoro saw him though. He still couldn't shake the thought that Sanji didn't belong to human's race with his appearance after all. But Zoro wasn't going to admit that, not to anyone, not to himself either. Call him in denial, but it was just _wrong _to think like that.

"Easy there, tiger. Don't rush eating or you're going to choke yourself to death. You eat like a baby. The last thing this restaurant wants is your dead boy on its table," Sanji snickered at him.

"Moron," Zoro mocked him in a half-hearted glare.

"Shitty marimo," Sanji replied with playful tone, still smirking teasingly even though there wasn't a real bite in his voice.

Zoro almost smiled at that. It seemed Sanji wasn't that bad. Well, he hadn't called Zoro a freak yet despite what he had shared. He even fed him. "Thanks for this," he said then with a real small smile even though he didn't really look at Sanji.

Zoro considered Sanji already understood it when he heard the quiet reply "You're shitty welcome," and he could almost see his smile in return despite his closed eyes.

**ZORO—RORONOA—ZORO**

In the end, Sanji didn't have to answer Zoro's question about his condition after he successfully deterred the marimo with his cooking and foods. Despite what Zoro had shared with him, he wasn't that ready to share his story about his condition further. But he would share it later. It was just the matter of time before all of his new friends knew about that after tonight. He already was in that sleepwalking condition, and Zoro saw him. He wanted to ask what he had done when he was unconscious, but he decided it wasn't that important since Zoro didn't say anything either. If it was dangerous, Zoro would have said something, right?

"You didn't finish your desert," Sanji frowned disdainfully at the leftover on the table.

"Sorry, I don't really like sweets." Zoro said with a slight guilty expression on his face.

"Despite eating those cakes from Nami-san and Vivi-chan?" Sanji raised his eyebrows, feeling rather anxious of the fate of his new dessert that he gave the marimo at the lunch time. If he didn't like sweets, who knew what he had done to them? Sanji would kill the shitty asshole if he dumped the cakes.

"Ah, those were different. They weren't that sweet, and _wow_, they're _mind blowing_." Zoro commented slowly with an almost pleased tone, even though probably it was just in Sanji's ear. Anyway, that guy's expression was totally hard to read. He had a fucking good poker face. _Too good_ it was infuriating.

"Mind blowing?" But to admit it, Sanji did almost blush at the _specific _term Zoro used to describe the taste of his new recipe. He wouldn't show it to the marimo at all costs, though.

"Yeah, I couldn't even get over the first bite. If it's possible, I want to buy them for the guy that lives with me, but I haven't asked Nami and Vivi where they bought them," Zoro said slowly.

Sanji was taken aback at that. "How did you know it's not Nami-san and Vivi-chan's cooking?" He actually was more interested in the part that Zoro actually lived with _a guy_ and not _his family_. He would mention his family if he lived with them, right? He just said 'the guy that lives with him,' so it probably wasn't his family. But he was also curious how he knew about the fact that Nami and Vivi didn't make those cakes. He decided it was safer to ask the later.

"For one, Nami is too stingy to actually cook _freely_ for anyone else, and two, Vivi is a princess, no way will she cook with her house condition, and the last but not least, those cakes were in the entirely different level of skill to make by beginners such as them… unless…," Zoro then paused for a moment.

_Uh oh_, Sanji noticed as Zoro's eyes began to widen. It seemed he was putting two and two together in his head, and from his expression, it seemed he already figured out what happened.

"Unless… it was your cooking," Zoro finished with a certainty in his tone while looking at Sanji straightly in his eyes.

_Busted_—Sanji was already blushing as Zoro spoke that out.

"Wow, you _are_ good," Zoro admitted with an expression that looked suspiciously like amazement. And Sanji had a thought that Zoro was praising him not only for the cakes, but also for the fact that he duped Zoro to consider that the dessert was from Nami and Vivi instead of himself.

"It's not like that I wanted to hide it. They were really from Nami-san and Vivi-chan since I made the cakes for them. They just weren't in the mood for cakes, so they told me to give them to you instead, as a peace offering," Sanji stroked his neck, slightly nervous, but he wasn't going to tell Zoro that he was a bit concerned at the fact that Zoro was recovering from his _accident_ that Sanji didn't know the detail of, plus, Zoro hadn't eaten that afternoon. He was already embarrassed enough as it was. He didn't need more ammunition for Zoro to tease him for being a mother hen.

"A peace offering? You're using food to bribe me?" Zoro scoffed and looked amused for some reasons.

"Shut it, marimo. It worked right?" Sanji put his hands on his waist, challenging Zoro to say more.

Zoro actually laughed at that. "Yeah, totally," he was still chuckling as he shook his head again.

Sanji didn't know what Zoro found amusing or funny about the whole situation, but it seemed it had something to do with Luffy because Zoro muttered lightly about some things. Sanji caught one of them as Luffy's name. Or it sounded a lot like Luffy's name, anyway. Sanji wouldn't ask. He didn't really want to know.

"Okay, my business is over. You're full, now scram off my dad's property," Sanji shooed Zoro away to the front door now.

"What, now you're kicking me out? How rude," Zoro stood, took his bag, and walked to the front door still shaking his head in his chuckles.

"We're closed, Mr. Customer. You can come back tomorrow, and actually _pay_ for your food next time," Sanji smirked at him sarcastically.

"Hey! You offered the treat," Zoro protested.

"A _onetime_ _thing_, Mr," Sanji straightened him out, but immediately regretted his choice of words as he realized how vague and suggestive those words innuendo were. He even blushed as he thought about it.

_Damn me and my big mouth!_—Sanji was almost afraid of seeing Zoro in the eye after that, but if Zoro noticed something, he as hell didn't say anything. He didn't want Zoro to get the wrong idea, though.

"See you tomorrow at school, shitty cook," Zoro then said before opening the front door.

As Sanji wanted to say good bye as well a sudden big wind passed them both. "Ugh…! Shitty fall weather…," Sanji blinked his eyes repeatedly as some dirt got into his eyes, and then he felt a sudden chilling wind that lingered too long on his body.

_What the hell…?_—Sanji stroked his standing body hair on his neck and arms. It was really cold suddenly.

Then Sanji looked up to notice that Zoro was still there, looking at Sanji oddly. "What?" Sanji asked, raising his eyebrow.

"Are you… okay?" Zoro asked mysteriously.

"I am. The wind is just cold. What is it?" Sanji could see that there was something more on Zoro's tone aside asking for his well being, but apparently, Zoro wanted to keep that for himself as he shook his head.

"No, just my imagination then," the green haired boy said before he walked away from his door.

"Weird," Sanji shrugged as he lifted his shoulders and decided to close the door before the cold wind could enter to his, err… his dad's restaurant as well as his home, more.

While Sanji was walking to turn off the light after cleaning up the dishes though, he noticed that the cold feeling was still there around him, but he blamed it on too much walking outside in the cold wind earlier.

**ZORO—RORONOA—ZORO**

While walking home, Zoro couldn't help glancing back at the restaurant for a good measure. He was sure; no, he was _deadly sure_ that he felt a very bad feeling when that strong wind blew inside the restaurant. Well, no, he didn't see anything and actually didn't feel any rei presence, but he could have sworn he heard a sound… voice, actually.

Or might be it was because Zoro was too paranoid since his awaken ability made him more sensitive to the presence of the reis and his surroundings, but he actually heard it, pretty clearly. He even could decipher the voice and what it was saying, and it made him a bit uneasy.

Yet Sanji was okay. He would say something if he felt something weird or wrong; and the wind was indeed cold, so maybe it really was only Zoro's imagination when he heard it, right?

Zoro shrugged again, and turned to really leave now. Smoker was probably home after all.

"_Finally… I found you…."_

**ZORO—RORONOA—ZORO**

When Zoro came home, it was almost 11 p.m. Thanks to forgetting where the last turn was, he almost got lost in the way home. Thank god there was a road-blocking at that street, so he could go back and turned to the right way. By the way, Smoker car wasn't in the yard, so probably he wasn't home.

"Does he pull double shifts or something?" Zoro wondered out loud. His silver haired guardian seemed working too much. Zoro didn't know the reason, but Smoker was probably just a workaholic. Or he had a really big case, either one.

Zoro entered the house with the spare key Smoker had given him before, and immediately putting his bag down on the sofa. He would just copy Vivi's home work tomorrow; he was kinda tired after a day. He had to work out more to compensate the absent from training. His body was out of shape, obviously, if he was tired of something like this.

As he finished preparing to go to bed after a quick shower, Zoro couldn't shake the feeling he had on Sanji and that wind, and that mysterious voice. When he laid down, he kept thinking that he would keep an eye on Sanji, though. Just in case…

Then Zoro remembered that Sanji actually hadn't said anything more about his sleepwalking condition. Damn him and his cooking. Zoro realized that he was deterred by that cunning blond haired fox. Well, he could always ask tomorrow at school. Sanji wouldn't run away from him after all. Zoro already knew his secret. He wouldn't want him babbling it out the entire school. Not that Zoro was about to. Sanji also held one of his current secrets even though he still didn't believe him.

Zoro shook his head as he thought and forced his eyes to shut. He had to sleep now; he would deal with that problem tomorrow. He would see the situation first before he jumped into conclusion. After all, he hadn't had any proof that Sanji was indeed possessed earlier at school. Probably it was indeed his sleepwalking 'condition' problem….

**ZORO—RORONOA—ZORO**

In the morning, Zoro was woken up by the smell of a coffee. He groaned slightly and blinked several times before waking up to sit. "What time is it…?"

"It's 7 a.m.," Smoker's voice came from outside the door, from the dining room direction, actually.

_How can he hear that? And what time did that guy come home last night… already woke and up earlier than me?_—Zoro grunted for a moment before standing up and went to the bathroom to wash his face and brushed his teeth. Then he changed his clothes to his running gear and went out to find Smoker sitting beside the dining table, a plate of baked breads and some omelets on the table completed with a mug of coffee fresh from the coffee maker.

Zoro took a glass of mineral water from the dispenser beside the table and drank it before sighing in relief. He put the glass down on the table and glanced slightly at the foods. "You made those?" Zoro was stunned then. He didn't know Smoker could cook despite already living with him for almost a month now. They usually bought take-outs at Chinese or fast food, or usually Zoro made rice balls, but he had never seen Smoker cook.

"No, it's my subordinate," Smoker said slowly, not releasing his gaze from his newspaper as he spoke.

By then, Zoro could hear the activity inside the kitchen. "Someone cooks for you?" He was surprised even more at that fact. However then, he heard a crashing sound and a thud, and a girly yelp, and he couldn't help breaking sweats of his entire face as he pointed concernedly at the kitchen. What the hell happened inside that chamber?

"Tashigi! Quiet down, will you?" Smoker shouted from his spot, appearing calm and indifferent.

"Ye-yes! I am sorry, sir!" the voice in the kitchen said in a yelp before more crashing sounds were heard. "Sorry!"

"Is she alright?" Zoro was downright worried now. It seemed that girl was a total klutz.

"She's just awkward and clumsy. It's okay. She'll be fine," Smoker said with a chuckle.

"I am more worried about your kitchen well-being though," Zoro said, sweat dropping. Smoker laughed at that.

"You're going to run?" Smoker then turned his face at Zoro as the green haired boy was looking for his running shoes.

"Yeah. I am kind of out of shape," Zoro said as he found his shoes and began to wear them.

"Well, be careful on the way then… and don't get lost," Smoker snickered at him while Zoro was scowling in annoyance at the mention of one of his weak points.

"Shut it, old man," Zoro grumbled as he put a bottle of mineral water and a hand towel he had fetched earlier inside his small bag before setting it on his waist. "Yep, I am going! Spare some breakfast for me!" Zoro yelled before he was out of door. He could almost see Smoker shaking his head at him, and when he was about to close the door, he saw someone getting out of the kitchen.

Zoro widened his eyes in a shock when he saw her. A girl with short black hair wearing oversized glasses. "Kui—!" But the door was already closed before he got a good look, and his heart hammered so hard and fast that Zoro didn't dare to open the door again to check the truth out.

_It's impossible… she's already dead…_—Zoro's hand was on the door handle for awhile before he released it. _No…, it's not Kuina. It can't be her. Smoker calls her Tashigi and… even though they look like each other, it isn't her._

Zoro then looked up and determined his mind. "I have a running to do, and a lot of reis to convince right now," he said as he started running. "Not to forget that the ero-cook is also still nagging in my mind now," he added quietly. Zoro would meet Smoker's subordinate later and probably wanted to talk to her, but right now, he didn't need any more distractions. One at a time, Zoro; one at a time.

**ZORO—RORONOA—ZORO**

After Zoro run on the road that brought him to the park in the center of the town, he saw something disturbing there. There near the pond, was Sanji, still dressed in pajama. "What the hell?" Zoro turned slightly so his running track was to Sanji's direction now.

It wasn't just the fact that Sanji was there with only his pajama that surprised Zoro, but the fact that he wasn't alone. He was with some people from before, the thugs whose asses had been kicked by him yesterday. And it seemed his situation was a bit dangerous.

"Please let me go," Zoro could hear Sanji spoke, but what the fuck! He was using _Keigo_ (3) for heaven sake! And he spoke timidly like a fucking girl. The hell was going on here? It was totally out of character and Zoro would have fallen down the street, sweat dropping, if the situation wasn't that serious.

"He said 'please let me go'?" one of the thugs asked with a mocking snort.

"What happened to your fucking bossy attitude yesterday, pretty boy?" another one asked with a sneer.

"What are you talking about? I was just asking for a direction," Sanji looked completely frightened and confused, and Zoro's instinct told him that the blond was a step further from breaking down and crying, so he speeded up and went to his rescue despite the niggling feeling that Sanji was totally alien right now.

_I want to ask the same thing as those thugs. What the hell happened to Sanji's confidence and bad boy attitude? He looks completely like a different person_—Zoro thought silently with an odd feeling.

"Your girly acting is completely disgusting!" One of the thugs raised his hand; probably about to punch Sanji and Sanji shut his eyes in complete fear as Zoro hurriedly caught the hand.

"Hey, now, five on one isn't a very fair game, is it?" Zoro said while twisting and clutching the thug's wrist hard.

"Oww, what the fuck—!"

"Who are you, asshole!" The other thugs then went on alert at Zoro's intrusion.

"I have to ask you to release him. He's not in a condition to fight right now," Zoro said with a warning glare.

"Bastard! You're also going down, kid!" One of the thug was about to attack Zoro as he tightened his clutch at the thug's hand he was holding. The guy screamed in pain at his ministration that halted the attacker's movement.

"One more step and I'll break his hand," Zoro narrowed his eyes, threatening all of them with his serious intent to kill and the other thugs chickened out and backed off while groaning cautiously. "Now, please release that blonde there, and I'll release your friend," he said smirking with a dangerous glint in his eyes.

The other thugs immediately released Sanji and the blond hurriedly ran to his side with a very worried look. Zoro slowly released the thug in his hold and he also ran to his friends. "We-we'll remember this!" he swore as they scrammed away from Zoro and Sanji.

"Cowards," Zoro spat at their direction with a huff. Then he turned his face at Sanji in annoyance. "What the hell are you doing here with a pajama, ero-cook? And why are you acting like a damn sassy? It's not like you couldn't kick them down by yourself!" Zoro was partially angry that Sanji was acting stupidly, but then he had to widen his eyes when he looked closely at the blond.

Sanji was looking at him with glassed eye, his face flushing prettily and Zoro had to stare at the feminine gesture he made with a flabbergasted expression. "At last… we finally meet, Zoro-sama." Sanji said with a very grateful adoring look.

Zoro's body hair stood at that. "Holy shit—! What the fuck is with the Keigo! Stop using the fucking Keigo, it gives me creeps!" he screeched in Goosebumps at Sanji's totally alien behavior. Did he finally lose his mind or something?

Sanji looked really hurt at that. "You mean… you don't remember me?" he asked with a sad longing look.

"Huh?" Now Zoro was officially confused. What the hell was wrong with Sanji? No, precisely, who the hell was this guy and what had he done to Sanji, anyway?

The tears then suddenly fell from that blue eye of Sanji and Zoro panicked. "Why the hell are you crying!"

"I… want to see you," Sanji said while sobbing lightly. "Always… always… want to see you… Zoro-sama," he said with a very sad tone that Zoro was forced to shut his mouth at to stare amazedly at the beautiful crying blonde…

_Wait! Where the hell does that come from! I didn't just consider this ero-womanizer-cook beautiful!_—Zoro panicked more as he couldn't shake the feeling that Sanji was too feminine to be a guy, damn it! He was fucking crying and spouting nonsense! _And why is he calling me Zoro-sama, anyway?_!

"I miss you… so much…!" Sanji added before he went closer and hugged Zoro's stoned body suddenly.

_WHAAAAAT!_—Zoro almost screeched at the sudden shocking development, but then he smelled something so familiar from Sanji's body. _Huh?_

It was a smell of flower, a flower that only grew in one place, and only one family had the plants. And only one person that Zoro knew had that smell on _her _body.

Zoro's head began to spin at that. Why would Sanji have that smell? Then the sudden realization crashed into his head. Zoro's suspicion yesterday… it seemed it wasn't just a suspicion.

"Kei…?" Zoro tried slowly, carefully with a disbelieving tone; and at that moment, Sanji released him and looked at his eyes hopefully.

"You remember me?" Sanji asked with a hint of relief in his voice and face.

"Holy crap…!" And Zoro knew for sure then.

_Sanji is indeed possessed by a rei!_

**End of Chapter 7**

**Tbc…

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**

**Notes:**

**(1)**_**Bitter Q**_**: **I take the reference from one of One Piece ZoSan doujinshi authorized by Saruya Hachi, entitled "Targeting Slow Green", scanned and translated by Arigatomania. Apparently, it is a fruit/vegetable that taste very bitter or very disgusting (even Luffy doesn't want to eat it raw), but Sanji can make it into a very delicious vegetable juice exclusive for Zoro (at first, before he reveals it to his other nakama).

**(2)**_**Shinai**_**: **bamboo sword for kendo practice.

**(3)**_**Keigo**_**: **it's an honorific language in Japan. Usually to show some distance over the user's relationship with the one he/she is speaking with. It gets a suffix like _–kudasai_ in the end of the words. In this case, Sanji is saying **"**_**Hanashite-kudasai**_**,"** which means **"Please let me go,"** and is totally out of character for him and his bad mouth.

**A/N: **Hiih, I know, I know! I am still in hiatus, people! This is just for letting a steam out! I'll try to update some other stories as well, ya know. Just wait for them patiently, and I will update again. Honest. So… what do you think of this chapter? Yeah, it's not as long as the last chapter, but damn it. I have no time to write more, so… let's just wait what I can do to the next chapter, okay? Fuel me, people. Let me think what you're thinking through your review ^_^.

With love,

Lunaryu~~~


	8. Shaman Part 3

**A/N: **Fiuuuh, at least… I can post this. Sorry for the long wait. Saa, no need to wait any longer. ENJOY!

**Disclaimer: just read the first chap…**

**Warning: **_it's heeere! ZoSan implication? Wait, on bed? XD Just read… language, people. Pay attention to foul language! No beta, so forgive me for the misspells and grammar errors.

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_

**The Connector**

**Chapter 8: **_**Shaman (Part 3)**_

Zoro was kind of pale when he got back from his morning run. Smoker stared at him oddly for a second when the green haired boy entered the house, and widened his eyes as he saw another _pretty _boy (or was that a girl?) behind him.

Their hands were entwined.

Smoker thought the world was going nuts. _That Zoro? Hand in hand with another boy?_

Tashigi also looked up from her note and squeaked like a girl when she saw what Smoker saw. _Uh… wrong_, _she is a girl_.

There was a brief tense silence when Smoker and Zoro stared at each other. The blond boy behind him was fidgeting, expression showing how uncomfortable he was. The visible blue eye was looking at Zoro then at Smoker with a confused, worried expression.

By the time the silence became too overwhelming for both Smoker and Zoro, Smoker cleared his throat. "Your friend?" He tried to sound even and calm.

"Yeah," Zoro also cleared his throat. If Smoker knew better, he would have thought Zoro was tightening his hold on that other boy's hand.

Zoro then glanced at Tashigi, and his expression looked… almost amazed, astonished even, like he couldn't believe what he was seeing. Smoker took a note to ask him about that oddity later since Tashigi also looked at the green haired youth, and then her gaze moved to the entwining hands before it landed on the timid blond haired boy, and she practically blushed.

Smoker rolled his eyes. _Youngster._

"Um… maybe I should…," Tashigi made a flailing gesture with her hands, looking slightly panicked and very-very uncomfortable, while trying to stand up and somehow managed to slip her foot and fell on her butt with another squeak. Her face flushed even more and she was thrashing.

"Calm down, Tashigi!" Smoker barked and she stopped. "Take a deep breath and move slowly, okay?" He offered his hand to help her stand and she nodded slowly while pacing her breathing. She accepted the offer and stood tentatively before she nodded at Zoro and at the blond boy, still slightly blushing, and quickly walked to the door.

And tripped once more on the way.

She smiled sheepishly once again at Smoker, Zoro and the blond boy before she was out of the door.

"I am still wondering how she can manage to be an officer with her clumsiness," Smoker shook his head at seeing her antics.

Zoro looked stunned, sweat dropping, and the blond boy looked somehow amused. Smoker noticed that Zoro and the blond boy's hands were still joined. The silver haired man then turned his gaze to Zoro, raising his eyebrows. "Care to explain?" He jerked his head at Zoro's hand direction.

And like a switch, it seemed Zoro realized what he meant and hurriedly released the hand. The blond boy looked slightly disappointed at that.

"Uh… it isn't what it looks like! It's… well; _this_ is really confusing," Zoro said as he took a seat in front of Smoker. The blond haired boy followed and sat beside Zoro after Zoro told him tentatively.

"I certainly can see that," Smoker's eyes were still on the blond boy, looking at him up and down, and slightly wondering why the fair skinned boy wore pajamas… in bare feet. He turned to Zoro. "Who is this?"

"Ah, um…," the blond boy seemed wanting to say something, but Zoro raised his hand to silence him. Smoker raised one of his eyebrows at the odd gesture.

"That is Sanji… uh… _the body_ at least," Zoro said looking doubtful.

"What does _that_ even mean?" Smoker furrowed feeling slightly confused.

"I honestly am not sure… but do you think a rei can posses a human body?" Zoro suddenly blurted out, looking a bit alarmed.

"Huh?" Smoker was even more confused.

"It… _he_… uh," Zoro pointed at the blond boy he called Sanji, but his face was really perplexed. "He's Sanji… the body, but he _isn't_, I mean… he… _she_ said that she wasn't."

"Wait-wait, he… _she_? What are you talking about?" Smoker frowned deeply now, completely baffled.

"I don't know how to explain it!" Zoro sighed with a defeated look. "Sanji was… I don't think it's possible, but he looks like being possessed, and the… rei that possessed him claims to know me, so…."

"Wait, he is possessed by a rei?" Smoker was surprised.

"I think so… is that possible?" Zoro glanced at the silent and confused looking Sanji with worried look.

"It… well… it's possible, but the one possessed shouldn't be that calm if you ask me…. Still, you're sure he's possessed?" Smoker was doubtful.

"Ask him. He's not Sanji right now," Zoro said with bewildered expression.

Smoker was silent as he stared curiously at the perplexed young blonde. It couldn't be. Being possessed by a rei was never easy for any human. There had to be some indications. The person's body defense mechanism should have fought the second _soul_ entering the body. It should be like an infection. The person would become sick in so many ways.

_Yet__ this boy looks perfectly healthy, too normal, like there was nothing wrong at all. _

Smoker reached at the young man slowly and tentatively touched his arm. Nothing happened. He didn't even flinch, his _haki_ didn't affect him at all, and Smoker couldn't feel anything. This was really odd. "What's your name?" he asked then.

"Um… Tachibana _Megumi_ (1)," Sanji said slowly, carefully, glancing at Zoro timidly, like he was seeking any approval from the green haired boy.

Smoker was silent again, furrowing his brow even more. That was a girl's name, and Zoro said his name was supposed to be Sanji. What was this boy playing at?

More uncomfortable silence ensued between the three guys inside the room.

"Err…, I am very confused right now," Sanji volunteered to break the silence. "Zoro-sama kept talking something strange… that I was not supposed to be here and something about _this-_," he made a gesture pointing his own body, "-was not my body, but… I do not understand what he was trying to say…," he continued shyly, all gesture screaming 'very formal young lady'.

Smoker suddenly understood why Zoro suspected that the boy was possessed. The 'character' didn't suit his appearance _at all_. Too polite, too _girly. _What was with the _keigo _anyway? But being possessed without any sick symptom was impossible. Unless…

_Impossible. Even the best t__rained shaman will still feel bad when they're possessed. Then, what is this boy…?_

"Smoker?" Zoro called then, looking very-very worried now.

Smoker was a bit startled as he was back from his train of thought. "Ah… this shouldn't be possible…."

"What's not possible, the possessed part?" Zoro raised his eyebrow in a surprise.

"No. A_ rei_ technically can possess ordinary person if it's strong enough. You see, the activity of _possessing_ requires a great deal amount of energy. It's exhausting for the parties, both the rei and the person. Rei, as you can see, has no longer any physical power and has to rely solely on their _mind_ and _will_ alone. Even the energy cultivated by _mind _and _will_ isn't enough to possess a living body. A living body has its own will and mind. Usually, these things will fight for dominance, and rei very rarely wins because the will and mind of the living beings are usually much-much stronger than the rei's. The battle of will and mind are always the most exhausting war ever. So it's impossible that a person can get possessed and still _talking_ or _walking _normally. There has to be a sign of struggle and pain somewhere, or even the lash out, because a possessed human is _always_ unstable," Smoker explained without looking away from Sanji.

"So you mean…, this is _abnormal_? Being possessed and being okay are impossible?"

Smoker nodded. "Even you should know better. You've experienced yourself. How nauseous and sick you were feeling when you were _touched_ by any rei, right?"

"Yeah… _at first_ though. Now, I am pretty okay touching any rei…," Zoro said slowly. "I guess proper training can make people master any skill…."

"Yeah, but this is beyond abnormal. When you're touched by rei, no matter how trained you are, it will still affect you in some way. Yet this boy is perfectly normal… oh, and I don't see any sign of mental and physical training on this boy as well," Smoker squinted at Sanji even more.

Looking at how lanky and lean Sanji was… yep. No way had he undergone any shaman training.

"But then… how do we explain this? As much as I want to believe that he's not possessed right now, he speaks like _Kei_ (1) and behaves like her. I even _smell_ her from him." Zoro said with a confused expression.

Smoker raised his eyebrows at the use of 'Kei' to refer Megumi. It seemed Zoro didn't want to see the rei as a girl, hence the use of the masculine form of her name. "That certainly is another anomaly." Smoker was silent for a moment then, thinking, still not releasing his gaze from Sanji (or _Megumi_ in this case).

"Um…," Sanji spoke lightly really unsurely, seeming trying to get either Smoker or Zoro's attention. Smoker and Zoro turned their gaze at the blonde at the same time. "What… exactly is happening?"

Well, it seemed Sanji was more in the dark about this. Smoker suspected that _she_ (it, the rei, _whatever_) didn't even know that she was already dead, and now possessed another body. _If_ it really was a possession case at all.

"What is the last thing you remember… _young lady_," the last part was added in an afterthought. Smoker figured the blond boy would get angry if he insulted his manliness a bit. Zoro threw Smoker a 'are you kidding?' look, but Smoker ignored him.

Sanji looked up to Smoker, expression looking rather pleased at the honorific. Well, possessed indeed. "Um… I do not really remember… but I recall that I really wanted to see Zoro-sama," he glanced at Zoro with a shy smile and a blushing face.

Smoker noticed the Goosebumps on Zoro's body and would have snickered at him if the situation wasn't that dire confusing. "And?" Smoker forced himself to focus on the blonde.

"I thought I was walking down the station… and the next thing I know, I woke up in an unfamiliar room in an unfamiliar house," Sanji said, looking scared. "I thought I was kidnapped. Then I ran because the doors were not locked. I tried to ask direction to people at the park, but then they started taunting and treated me like an offensive being before Zoro-sama came and rescued me."

Smoker looked at Zoro pointedly after he heard the story.

"What?" Zoro looked as confused and as baffled as Smoker was.

"A word… privately," Smoker stood before looking at Sanji softly. "Stay here," he spoke to Sanji with reassuring tone and the boy nodded slightly, sighing gratefully.

Zoro followed Smoker with a puzzled expression when the older guy left the room to his bedroom. After they were safely inside the room, Smoker closed the door.

Zoro looked at Smoker with questioning look. "So… what's going on?" he asked.

"As much as I don't want to believe that he's possessed, it seems he really is. And the rei…, _Megumi_, seems unaware of her predicament. She doesn't know that she's already dead," Smoker spoke lowly and looked at Zoro's eyes carefully. "She knows you and you know her. She stays _here_ even after her death in the hope to find you. You're her reason why she's still here even though she's not supposed to. Do you have any idea why she wants to see you so badly?"

Zoro sighed long and scratched his head a little. "Megumi…_Kei_ and I… we were engaged once," he said while looking anywhere but Smoker.

There was a brief silence, and for a moment Smoker thought his ears played him. "You were _what_?"

"I'm not going to repeat that," Zoro acted defensively now, looking rather annoyed.

Smoker believed that his own eyes were widened and looked like saucers now. "You're seventeen," and he kind of needed to mention that.

"Like that mattered. It was our parents' idea. You know… old families' tradition, merging two big families together in a marriage for maintaining bloodline and fame or such in early age?" Zoro's face was infuriatingly composed, but there was a slight hue of blush in his cheeks.

"And you were okay with that?" Smoker didn't believe he had this conversation with Zoro of all people.

"We were _thirteen_. And I didn't actually realize what the meaning of 'engagement' until much later," Zoro reasoned. "Didn't matter though, because she ran away from home when she was fourteen," he continued then. "I thought she didn't want to do that. I mean… married for political purpose. I thought she tried to make a point to her parents, being rebellious teenager and all that. Hence the running away act. She never came home and the engagement was called off when I was fifteen."

Smoker couldn't help staring at Zoro in absolute disbelief. "I have no idea that something like that still exists in this modern era."

"Fame and power never grow old," Zoro shrugged.

"And the fact that it's _you_ of all people…," Smoker shook his head, still in total disbelief.

"What was that supposed to mean?" Zoro sounded really annoyed at that.

"No, well… so she ran away and never came home… What do you think happened to her when she was on the run?" Smoker ignored Zoro's annoyance and changed the subject hurriedly, not wanting to argue about something trivial. At least for now because they had more urgent matter to solve.

"I don't know. We lost contact years ago. I didn't even know she ran away until her family told mine about it. It was quite the humiliation for their family's name… but I never gave a damn about that. I actually join the search party to look for her for a couple of months. But, because there was no clue… well, I assumed she didn't want to be found." Zoro said with a sigh again.

"You really liked her, didn't you?" Smoker concluded seeing Zoro's expression.

"In a _family_ way, yes, I did. Kei was always really… you know, smart and graceful, like my mother," Zoro said with a fond look.

Smoker was sympathetic. "Must be quite a shock finding her _this way_."

"Well… I don't really want to believe it at first. I thought Sanji was playing some sick game after knowing what I can do… but after last night…."

Smoker raised his face at that and cut him. "Wait, wait; hold on! Turn back a second. You _told_ him, about what you can do?"

Zoro shrugged again. "No point in hiding it from him, and anyway… he also has secret that I know."

"What secret?" Smoker was intrigued now.

"Um… this… _thing_ happened at school. I thought I imagined things, but there was this rei in the music room. He was almost turning into _ayakashi_, and I planned to remove him, but because of the tight schedule, I forgot. Thus when I remembered, I checked back to the music room. Sanji was there, playing the piano, and he looked really odd, like he wasn't himself. I didn't even think he could play piano for that matter. But then he passed out and when he woke up, he didn't remember how he got inside the _locked _music room after he went home," Zoro explained. "And he told me he had a sleeping condition… _sleepwalking_, his 'secret', where he often moved as he was asleep. He said it could get so bad that he could sleepwalk for days before he woke up again. I thought it was odd…, so I suspected that he was _possessed_. I wasn't so sure though… but with _this morning_ event, I am sure now."

"Sleepwalking condition…?" Smoker was curious. It was indeed odd.

"Do you think that's why he doesn't feel anything when he's possessed, because he _is_ actually sleeping?" Zoro asked.

"I don't know… but still, even if he really didn't feel a thing, the body still would fight and no way would the _rei_ stand the _haki_ I sent to him just now. I've never seen something like this before. I need to check it out first. Some old researches should have something in record," Smoker sighed and walked back to the door.

"Wait, then what am I supposed to do with Sanji… I meant, _Megumi_? I can't just leave him, her, alone like this," Zoro looked desperate and confused. It seemed he really had no idea what to do.

Smoker felt a pity on the green hared lad. "Then don't leave him alone."

"I have school, and so does Sanji," Zoro pointed that out.

"Then bring him to school."

"He's possessed!" Zoro protested.

"He still can go to school." Smoker shrugged.

"It will be totally weird! He's possessed by a _girl_, Smoker. His friends will think he's going nuts! Or, everyone will think _I am_ nuts for babysitting him. We don't exactly get along. It will be like… 'an alien befriending a predator' weird!" Zoro protested more, and he actually had a lot of points. "And what about Sanji's parents? They will freak out… no, probably they _are_ freaking out now, finding their son's bed empty."

"Okay, okay," Smoker lifted both of his hands, surrendering. "I'll do something about the parents… but you have to persuade _Megumi_ to pretend to be Sanji."

"How? She doesn't even know that she's dead," Zoro looked despaired at that.

"Then we have to tell her the truth; that she is dead and needs to _leave_, and if she can't leave yet, at least she should tell us why she's still here. What's her unfinished business or something," Smoker opened the door again and walked out, not really minding the muttering behind him that he suspected Zoro was whining about something like 'easy for you to say' or 'how come I am stuck with the hard task?' or something on those lines.

—**Zoro**** Roronoa Zoro—**

Zoro was dreading when he came back out to the living room where Sanji… he meant, _Kei_, was fiddling at the hem of his… her, argh! It was really confusing! Zoro would just refer him as Sanji, since the appearance was easier to regard. He just had to remember to call him _Kei_ or _Megumi _if they were alone. Though, he voted for the first because he was still not comfortable calling _her _Megumi. Old habit died hard. Besides, _Kei_ was more suitable for now since she occupied a male body.

"Hei," Zoro called Sanji tentatively and the blond looked up at him in a startle.

"Zoro-sama," Sanji smiled at him softly and Zoro couldn't help feeling amazed of how feminine Sanji's face could look when his expression was so soft and gentle like that.

Sanji really did maintain his expression well when he was still himself. He looked totally manly and womanizer. But, right now his expression wasn't cold or hard and Zoro wondered if Sanji could make this kind of look if he wasn't possessed.

_Okay,__ so not the right time to think of something like that_—Zoro shook his head and concentrated at the problem. "Do you wish to know what actually happened?" he asked slowly, searching Sanji's expression for recognition, remembrance, or anything that could give him a clue how to pass the _not so good_ news.

"What happened?" Sanji nodded at that, looking slightly worried.

"Come with me. It's kind of hard to explain, so I'll just show you," Zoro decided then, offering Sanji his hand, and Sanji took it gracefully.

"You know… it has been awhile since we hold hands like this," Sanji said shyly and Zoro fought that Goosebumps from appearing on his skin of how _sickeningly _sweet Sanji's tone was. It was really disturbing hearing it from Sanji's mouth, with Sanji's voice, while he was completely aware that it wasn't Sanji speaking.

"You remembered the last time we hold hands?" Zoro decided to humor him though, as well as trying to figure out how many memories the rei, Kei, remembered about their interaction.

"Eight months, maybe nine? I really missed you, you know… since you did not call after the last time we saw each other. I thought you disagreed with the engagement," Sanji said with slightly concerned tone as Zoro led him to the bedroom. "Did you?" he asked further, sounding worried and helpless and Zoro was feeling really bad right now for resurfacing that kind of tone from Sanji when he thought he shouldn't feel that way because it was Sanji he was talking to. At least, his body was.

"Was that the reason why you decided to look for me?" Zoro remembered that Megumi just told him about her walking down the station, and the fact that she really wanted to see him.

"Yes. I thought if I could find you and maybe talked to you, you know, you would not find the idea really that bad. Because… I really…," Sanji paused and took a deep breath. "I really like you," he continued slowly, stopped walking and Zoro had to halt as well to look at him in the eye; his beautiful, clear sky blue eye staring at him earnestly. "I really do, and I want to spend the rest of my life with you," he added and he looked so sincere that Zoro's heart ached a bit.

_Damn__…!_—Zoro had to hold down the overwhelming urge to pull him into a hug. He had to remember that the body was Sanji's. He couldn't possibly hug him while thinking it was Kei. Zoro might not love the girl as she did love him, but he still cared, because she was a family. Aside his first crush, Kuina, Kei was the closest thing he had for that feeling, and he kind of still liked the idea of having someone to be together with.

It wasn't getting easy at all with all the thoughts.

"I have to show you something," Zoro willed himself not to get too caught up in the moment, where he could just forget and let her be, even though it wasn't her body. But, Zoro couldn't-… _wouldn't_ do that, because it would be really unfair, for her and for Sanji too. It was Sanji's body and he couldn't possibly have the same conformity and idea as Kei's. Besides, sooner or later, Kei would turn into something nasty if she couldn't pass on. Zoro couldn't let that happen. Not to Kei.

For a moment, Zoro could see the hurt in Sanji's eye, probably because Zoro didn't answer the grand confession. Despite their former status for being engage, both Zoro and Kei had never told each other's feelings. He had to admit that it was a really big confession for _a girl_, essentially, but since it was Sanji's body he was speaking to, Zoro didn't think that far. The blond then looked down, resigned as he moved again, following Zoro to the room.

When they reached inside the room, Zoro pulled Sanji to stand in front of a body sized mirror. "Look," he said.

Sanji looked up at his own reflection and immediately gasped. "What…?" His eye widened in a shocked expression and disbelief. "What is the meaning of this?" He frantically touched his hair and face, looking really confused and put out.

"Kei… you're already dead," Zoro said very slowly, tentatively, earning another surprised gasp from the boy in front of him. "You've possessed someone else's body."

"No…! It cannot be!" Sanji turned to look at Zoro in denial and disbelief. "What trick are you playing at? It is so cruel if you reject me this way!" He looked affronted and really hurt. "How could you do this? Why did you say I was dead? I am alive!"

"Kei, look at yourself. Your body isn't even a girl's," Zoro convinced him with a sad look, trying to be patient because it must have been really hard for her as well.

"No…," Sanji looked at him with pleading eye. "Please tell me you are lying…!" Now there were tears in his eye and Zoro couldn't help it. He didn't want to see him cry, so he pulled Sanji and hugged him despite the scream at the back of his head that it was Sanji's body he was hugging and it was a very-very bad idea to do this.

"I never lie, and you know that best," Zoro said, ignoring his rational sense and tightened the hug. He could feel the shaking body in his arms and heard the sniffs, the sobs, and the hiccups near his ear, where Sanji's blond lock nested in the hollow of his neck.

And as much as he didn't want to, Zoro couldn't help feeling Sanji's lean slender body pressed against him and it was kind of nice… _Crap!_—Zoro didn't just think that. No, he didn't.

Except he did, and it was creepy.

Zoro mentally kicked himself for feeling that way.

"No…, no…! I do not want to die…! I still have not done so many things in life…! I have not even kissed yet…!"

Zoro had to hold down a bubble of laughter from surfacing at the lamenting and whimpering. It was kind of funny if Sanji wasn't crying right now. Yet he still could picture Sanji kicking him if he did laugh, because it wouldn't be funny for him, err… for Kei. Shit, he was starting to mix Sanji and Kei's personalities. It was indeed really confusing when he had to deal with two people at the same time in one body.

After some awkward patting on Sanji's back, the blond began to calm down and only sniffed lightly. Zoro released him again slowly. "I am sorry, for wetting your shirt," Sanji said, still in tears, face flushing a bit from crying and looking desperate to dry his eye.

Zoro sighed slightly in sympathy at Sanji's look. "It's okay," he said lightly.

"No…, it is not. I remember you hate a crybaby," Sanji took a deep breath and released it slowly to calm himself down even more. "And I am not a crybaby."

"You're right. You're always strong," Zoro smiled fondly at Sanji and when the blond boy looked up at Zoro's eyes, he seemed realizing something.

"What should I do, Zoro-sama? If I am really dead, what am I supposed to do?" Sanji asked with confused, scared eyes. "Do I have to go somewhere?"

Zoro nodded solemnly. "Eventually, you have to go to 'the other side'," he answered.

"The other side _where_?" the blond asked further.

"I don't know… the place you're supposed to go after you die, where there's no more pain and suffering, a nice place which will make you rest in peace," Zoro answered again.

"How can I go?" Sanji asked again.

"Whenever you're ready to leave… after you finished your unfinished business, which is probably solved now since you already found me and that you know now that I agreed with our engagement four years ago," Zoro smiled reassuringly.

"You did?" Sanji looked amazed for a moment.

"Of course. I thought you ran away because _you_ didn't want to marry for political purpose," Zoro said pointedly.

"I was not running away… wait, four years have passed since the engagement?" Sanji looked really surprised now. "But… I just left to find you two days ago…."

"It's 2011," Zoro said.

"What?" Sanji was bewildered now. "My god… I did die then… how come I never realized it?"

"Sometimes… when a rei is determined to do something before it dies, it won't see or remember anything except what it wants to do. It's like… a sole mission it has to fulfill before it could let go and pass on." Zoro closed his eyes, expression understanding. "You're so determined to find me… that you don't remember dying." Now he opened them to look sincerely at Sanji. "I'm flattered," he smiled softly now, making Sanji blush pretty pink in embarrassment.

_He's cute…!_—Zoro thought for a moment before realized what he was thinking and mentally smacked his head (again) for even thinking about Sanji being cute. It was Sanji's body, the _curly eyebrow's_ freaking face, goddamned it!

"Zoro-sama… you are still such a tease," Sanji giggled. He was freaking giggling and Zoro's body hair had to stand at the wrongness of that. He was actually shuddering. This was crazy and nuts in its many ways he couldn't decide which one. He couldn't imagine how Sanji, _the real Sanji_, would react if he saw himself like that, giggling like a girl.

Zoro cleared his throat, suddenly feeling really uncomfortable for finding Sanji's body could be really attractive if it was used the right way. Damn teenager hormone!

"Uh… so… are you satisfied yet, being here and meeting me, knowing what you want to know?" Zoro said, scratching the back of his head, feeling a bit sheepish.

"Yes," Sanji smiled in a happy look. "So… I need to go… how?"

"Huh?" Zoro was confused.

"How do I crossover?" the blond asked again.

"Eh… err… if you have no more unfinished business, you should feel at ease and you can see something which will bring you to the other side… I suppose," Zoro replied, unsure. He had actually never understood the procedure of how a rei could pass on after it finished its business. Usually it would just glimmer and disappear in the sparkling light.

"Um… seeing what, exactly?" Sanji looked around, looking completely confused.

"Huh?" Now Zoro was perplexed. "I don't… I meant… don't you feel you can go now?"

"Uh… that does not make any sense, Zoro-sama," Sanji pointed. "How am I supposed to leave this body? I know I have to go, but I do not know what to do to go," he continued, looking helpless again.

"Weird… You sure you feel at ease already? No other business?" Zoro asked again, curious and worried and what the hell? If Kei was already satisfied, she should leave on its own accord. But then again, she possessed Sanji. It probably had something to do with her unable to leave peacefully.

Sanji lowered his gaze and bit his lower lip, seeming thinking, and Zoro somehow found the gesture rather sexy. He berated himself mentally again (_again! Jeez, how many times already?_) after realizing his mind was wandering to a place it wasn't supposed to go. "Maybe… it is about how…, -I mean, I died. How did I die? Where was I these past four years?" Sanji then looked up at Zoro."Maybe… I want you to find me, Zoro-sama," he stared deeply at Zoro's eyes and there was a flicker of hope in there.

Kei wanted to be found.

"Okay," Zoro nodded. "We'll find you, together," Zoro held Sanji's hand and stared at his baby blue eye reassuringly. "But I can only go at the weekend, because I have to go to school. Sanji has to go to school as well. But, since you're in his body, I need you to act as Sanji for now. Can you do that?" he tightened his hold on Sanji's hand and the blond blushed again.

Sanji gulped slightly and nodded, a bit unsurely. "Okay…," he said slowly. "What should I do…I mean, what kind of person this… _Sanji _is?"

Zoro smiled in relief at that. He was glad that Kei was cooperative. "I'll show you." He was confident that he, they, could get through the day without much oddity and problems now.

_Or__…—_the tiny part of his brain whispered at Zoro subconsciously. _These days will become the strangest and the most awkward days in my life_…_. _

—**Zoro Roronoa Zoro—**

**Grad Line International Senior High School; ****Zoro's class: 08.45—**

Nami couldn't help staring with open mouth, unceremoniously, at the most outrageous view she had ever seen this week. "Is it just me or I really do see Zoro and Sanji walking _together_ entering the classroom?"

"Huh?" Vivi, who was studying the latest note of yesterday's lesson beside Nami, looked up from her notebook and followed Nami's gaze to find the two gorgeous boys walking side by side in front of the class. "Now, I didn't see that coming." She set her dumbstruck expression.

"Right? Zoro is not the type of a person who can warm up to a stranger, moreover, an _annoying _stranger, overnight," Nami didn't release her gaze from the green haired boy and the blonde. "Something happened… to those two." She smirked suspiciously then, seemingly already plotting to torment Zoro later on.

"What could have happened?" Vivi looked a bit confused, apparently not catching the innuendo in Nami's line.

Nami looked at Vivi with sympathetic expression. "Oh, dear… You are so innocent, so very cute." Then she hugged her dear-dear friend, making the pearl haired girl blush, slightly looking perplexed.

Zoro looked around slowly and saw Nami looking at his direction with an amused face and Vivi with slightly confused look. He instantly knew the orange haired witch caught some strange thoughts about him and Sanji's predicament, judging by her look, and Zoro groaned at that.

_So much for being discreet._

Sanji, apparently noticing Zoro's discomfort, turned his face at him. "What is wrong, Zo-… I mean, _what_, Marimo?"

Zoro noticed how Zanji cringed slightly at the line, the way he _had to_ force it out to call Zoro after quickly losing his _keigo_. Seemed the blond had almost forgotten _not_ to use it.

Well, they already discussed that matter earlier. Sanji seemed uncompelled to call Zoro rudely like that, and actually protested by asking: _"Why does Sanji-san cuss at you so much?"_

Zoro could only shake his head and answer with: _"I absolutely have no idea."_

Zoro already showed Sanji a photo album and introduced his friends to _Kei_ in Sanji via pictures. Sanji could memorize the faces and names quickly (_isn't Kei great?_) and Zoro also told _Kei_ how Sanji usually behaved around the girls and boys according to his _one night _knowledge about him, not sure if it was accurate, but he had stared at the blonde quite a bit (not really) the day before, so it probably was.

Well, Zoro hoped _Kei_ could mimic Sanji's act even though _she_ seemed really disliking the idea of being Zoro's antagonist… and of course, the part where Sanji had to woo the girls _constantly_.

_Kei_, with Sanji's face and voice, had even muttered with annoyed look: _"Does he really think women are such an easy creature?"_

Zoro, though feeling a bit _odd_ hearing the remark from Sanji's -the womanizer- mouth, happily supported: _"That's exactly what I think when I face him."_

With incredible effort to look scowling, Zoro answered Sanji's question. "The witch is looking at us." He muttered slowly, jerking his head slightly to Nami's direction.

Sanji turned his face at Nami and he (apparently) forced himself to smile widely and waved at her. "Good morning Nami-swaaan! You're so pretty today too!" he said and after seeing Vivi beside her he added, "Good morning to my beautiful princess Vivi-chan as well!"

Zoro was impressed with the very similar enthusiastic tone and cheery expression in Sanji's face. If Zoro didn't know better, he would never notice it wasn't Sanji but _Kei_ speaking. "Nice," he complimented with a slight grin.

"Was that good enough?" Sanji whispered lightly, back to his _keigo_, with a bead of sweat on his face, still with a smile though, probably trying hard to maintain his expression for appearance sake.

"Outstanding," Zoro said, nodding in acknowledgment. "Now we just have to maintain cover and making excuse to be in close proximity. Oh, and probably to talk as little as possible…"

"Sanjiii!"

Zoro and Sanji were surprised when Luffy suddenly emerged out of nowhere and launched himself at Sanji.

"Hyaaah!" And Sanji was caught off guard, forgot how he was supposed to act and screamed… _very_ _girly_.

Luffy blinked, looking very confused _at first_ by Sanji's _weird _reaction and stopped in the middle of the process in hugging the blond boy. "Huh?"

Zoro face-palmed himself, "Oh _crap,_" then grumbled.

There was a deafening silence before the residents of the classroom exploded in chuckles, snickers and giggles, and then in outright laughter at that unexpected view. The _Don-Juan_ Blackleg Sanji had just screamed, like a _fucking_ girl.

"Did Sanji just _scream_?" Nami looked really baffled at that.

Vivi giggled heartily beside her. "I guess he has that _girly_ side after all," she couldn't even stop her light laughter while talking. It was honestly funny for her, apparently.

"Sanji, you okay?" Luffy looked at his new friend oddly, like he was seeing someone he didn't know.

"Uh…fine. I was just surpri—," Sanji looked quite flustered, and for a moment, Zoro thought the blond had blown the cover, but then "-_Luffy!_ How many times have I told you not to sneak on me like that!" the blonde recovered quickly from his shock and fell back into character, yelling at Luffy with vehemence.

He had made a mistake, indeed. Screaming like a girl was overkill, but sure Sanji couldn't help it. Luffy was surprising, _always_, like that. Of course Sanji would be very surprised. Even Zoro was surprised.

Luffy perked up at the sharp tone, and grinned. "Now that's the Sanji I know!" He grinned before shouting again. "You promised me a breakfast for today! Where were you this morning?"

_Crap! Did Luffy go to Sanji's house this morning?_—Zoro, who had almost sighed in relief after seeing the banter, panicked again at Luffy's demand. He just hoped that Smoker already informed Sanji's parents about Sanji's disappearing act before Luffy could have asked _things_ to him.

"Y-you went to my house?" Sanji widened his eyes in disbelief. How would he respond to that?

"Seemed he was jogging, Luffy," Zoro quickly provided the reason to save the cover again, and of course, saved Sanji from further damaging the already very _weak_ cover by talking unnecessarily to Luffy. "I met him at the park this morning." Well, not in the way it was supposed to, but at least he didn't outright lie. Zoro indeed met Sanji this morning in the park when he was running.

"Oh? But Sanji, you promised!" Luffy whined and pouted petulantly with his big round clear coal eyes, like a kicked puppy, and Sanji almost swoon at the cuteness.

"Aah, how about I'll make you something at lunch?" Sanji negotiated while seemingly trying to control his inner squeal. His face was twitching slightly as he tried to hold down his expression, and it looked really weird that Zoro almost laughed at the view, _almost_.

Anyway, Luffy seemed distracted by the offer, and with his one way simple mind, the boss would drop the subject.

"You promised me lunch too," Luffy said, still sulking.

_Or maybe it's too soon to feel relieved__…—_Zoro rolled his eyes.

"Then I'll double your portion later," Sanji said, a bead of sweat dropping from behind his head.

"You will?" Now Luffy's face was bright with hope and Sanji chuckled at that.

Well, Zoro had to give _Kei _more credit then, for saving the day. Seemed Luffy was taking the offer and dropped the more sensitive subject after all.

"Yes, I will, boss. Don't worry," Sanji grinned widely, and Zoro himself was momentarily distracted by the wonder whether he was seeing the actual Sanji or the still acting _Kei_. Because… well, he looked and spoke just like Sanji. He couldn't even differentiate who was who anymore.

Sanji then turned his face at Zoro and he grinned slightly at him as well, and Zoro knew it was still Kei. Sanji wouldn't look at him with fond like that in his eye. They disliked each other, remember?

"Yay! I love you, Sanji!" Luffy hugged the blond happily and Sanji blushed, apparently not seeing that coming at all.

Zoro really chuckled seeing the blond look embarrassed. Sanji then glared slightly at Zoro's direction in a bit of annoyance. _A very convincing Sanji's character, indeed—_Zoro tried hard to stifle his laughter at that.

"Not funny," Sanji muttered lightly, still pouting and flushing, while patting Luffy's back absently. It looked really awkward. Well, _Kei_ wasn't used to skin to skin contact after all. It was quite endearing.

Zoro then looked back and saw Nami (again) and Vivi already near them (since when?) watching their interaction with interest, especially Nami. She looked like she had noticed something _different_ and Zoro had to curse inwardly at his carelessness. He forgot how observant the witch was. He was lucky if he could explain the weird atmosphere going on between him and Sanji right then. Or she would conclude that she had blackmail material over Zoro, and probably already performed some plans to abuse it.

_God kno__ws how bizarre Nami's brain is._

"What?" Zoro asked her, trying hard not to sound defensive while arching his brow.

"Oh, nothing," Nami smirked.

Okay, that couldn't be good. Zoro felt a very bad omen seeing that smirk. And Vivi giggling heartily beside her wasn't helping, even though she seemed not as perceptive as Nami was about the whole strange situation.

"Mademoiselle Nami-swan," Sanji then entered the conversation after successfully deterred Luffy's attention from him to another classmate. "I miss you so much." He smiled and took Nami's hand to kiss before he turned his shiny gaze at Vivi. "Princess Vivi-chan," he greeted, giving the same treatment to the crystal-haired princess' hand.

"Oh, Sanji. We met yesterday too, no?" Vivi said with an easy smile.

"Yep. It seems your peace offering worked like a charm for Zoro," Nami whispered with a glint in her eyes that was quite scary actually, but Sanji probably had absolutely no idea what she was talking about.

Well, how did Zoro know? Of course… because Zoro himself _didn't _have that knowledge!

"Um…," Sanji actually froze in his smile, a bead of sweat appeared on his cheek. "Peace offering…?"

This didn't look good. Both Zoro and Sanji didn't know what Sanji and the other classmates had done together yesterday, except maybe the part where Zoro was involved.

Sanji apparently looked confused enough to make Nami explain. "The green cake?"

"Oh! That, yeah… um…," Sanji flailed a bit, making both Nami and Vivi arch their eyebrows. "I suppose…, but come on, Nami-san. That couldn't be called a 'peace offering.' Why would I be the one to start the relation—, I mean, _friendship_, with the green anemone who doesn't even appreciate beauty?" he grinned easily. "Besides, those were supposed to be yours. I think he should be grateful more to Nami-san and Vivi-chan's generousness for actually sharing them."

"Hey! I heard that!" Zoro protested, slightly indignant. Even though he knew it was just a talk for appearance and for convincing Nami, it still sounded suspiciously like something the actual Sanji would say.

Zoro (and Sanji, it seemed) practically sighed in relief with the quite believable excuse. That witch was actually chuckling seeing them bantering normally.

To be honest, Zoro was still feeling odd that Sanji passed the cake to him yesterday, but Sanji already informed Zoro that the cakes were originally _from_ Nami and Vivi, even though later he knew that Sanji was lying by omission (since the blond was the one who made them), and he actually admitted that it was a bribe to have a better ground with Zoro.

Well, _anyway_,Zoro didn't know that Nami and Vivi were the ones suggesting Sanji to give the cake to Zoro. It was thoughtful of them… or Nami especially, since she was the one actually knowing that Zoro hadn't eaten his lunch and was starving that time. Though, Zoro would _never _admit that out loud.

Nami chuckled. "Yeah. He should." Her grin was even wider than the first. And she seemed holding something back as she looked at Sanji's smiling face and then at Zoro's slightly concerned one, making both Sanji (apparently) and Zoro a bit nervous.

Zoro could actually fell the tell-tale of anxiety squirming inside his stomach. He could already hear the chiming bells of doom approaching closely. He hoped against all odds in the world that Nami would keep whatever she noticed to her fucking self. Zoro had enough trouble already, handling _Kei_ in Sanji's body. He didn't need more problems right now.

"I know something happened~," Nami sang-song meaningfully while walking back to her seat, and she managed to make Vivi follow her with curiosity in her eyes.

"We're totally doomed," Zoro let out a long suffering sigh while hanging his head low.

"Eh?" Sanji (_Kei_), managing to look confused, wasn't even in the slightest helping.

—**Zoro Roronoa Zoro—**

**Grand Line International Senior High School; Home Economic Classroom: 12.05**

"Could you actually cook?" Zoro asked while leaning against the sliding door, slightly bored.

"Now you are being rude, Zoro-sama. I am a _bride-wannabe_ of course I can," Sanji giggled, tone sounded amused.

"_Was_… and _could_," Zoro absentmindedly corrected.

Sanji's hand stilled for a moment in the middle of cutting cabbage, expression unknown since he had his back facing Zoro. "True." He continued cutting after that, not saying anything else.

Zoro couldn't help feeling bad about it. "Sorry." He knew being apologetic wasn't helping the situation, _Kei_ and Sanji'ssituation, at all. But he was just… well, feeling responsible.

_For both__…_—Zoro should have checked further when he heard the voice the night before. He let his guard down and let Sanji get possessed. He should have pried even more about Sanji's 'sleep-walking' condition. More persistent or so. Stupid privacy. He just didn't understand why he could miss that. He even heard the voice… and the bad feeling was also present! Zoro only didn't _see_ the _rei_. His _gift_ of sight actually failed him this time. He should trust his _gut_ more rather than his _five senses_. That was the point of having a sixth sense after all.

And about Kei…. Well, if only Zoro had paid more attention to her in the past…, if only he had talked to her more often…, if only he… he didn't even know what else he could say after all the damage was done. He absolutely had no idea that she would be his future wife before the engagement. Even after that, he was still confused over what it meant to be engaged, let alone to a girl like Kei.

In Zoro's defense, the _technically _presentKei wasn't _similar_ to the girl he had met for the first time. Some years ago, five to be exact, Kei was more… boyish, short brown hair, sleeveless undershirts and plain trousers, actually climbing trees and playing catching fishes at the river with the town children, little boys precisely. Honestly, Zoro thought she was a boy at first.

That was why, Zoro called her _Kei_ despite her name being _Megumi_, because it was manlier… and the kanji of her name could be read that way anyway. So he was fairly shocked a year later to find she had changed so much. Long beautiful hair, feminine kimono, even the _Keigo_, he almost thought she was someone else, her twin maybe, but it was Kei because she was the only child in her family. It was always her, and she did all that, to change, for him, because she wanted to be with him, to be a proper young lady he could marry someday.

Then this happened. She thought Zoro didn't like her. He was indeed never good with talking about his feelings, and she got the wrong message because of his silence or lack of response. So she decided to try to convince him that they could be happy together. But… before she could do that, something happened on the way, and she died… how was that not Zoro's fault? If she didn't go looking for him, she wouldn't have….

Yet, Zoro couldn't change what already happened. And now it was his job to make her let go. This time around, he would be the one who would find her. Zoro silently made a vow inside his heart.

"Do not be," Sanji, with a hint of smile on his tone, said slowly which brought Zoro back from his inner monolog.

"Kei…," Zoro couldn't help approaching Sanji as the blond put his knife down and turned to face him.

"Hmm?"

"I know it probably isn't a consolation, but I promise that I will find you." Zoro told him with a determined feeling.

Sanji raised his eyebrow before he smiled really softly. He took Zoro's hand and held it strongly. "If it had not looked really weird, I would have kissed you right now."

Zoro actually blushed at that, and the image of Sanji kissing him was surprisingly making its way to Zoro's mind. He almost choked at that disbelievingly, suddenly perplexed, not understanding why the image was even popping up into his _straight_ mind in the first place. It was Sanji for fuck sake!

Well, technically it was Kei, but still! The body and the face and the voice, and even the 'everything' (except the rei) was Sanji's, and there was no way would he even consider kissing Sanji.

Fuck, now because his confused mind went _there_, he couldn't help _thinking_ about that! Oh, dear god! Not that he even believed in one, but it was the right figurative speech anyway, so he would use it. How wrong did it sound just now, his silent train of thought, he meant? He had probably gone nuts.

"Your expression turned pretty interesting, Zoro-sama," Sanji chuckled playfully, and Zoro fought hard not to blush further.

"Shut up," he scowled slightly and that seemed making Sanji chuckle even more because he was fairly sure that the blond looked at him like he was looking at petulant child. That was really humiliating.

"Would you like to have lunch with Luffy-sama and me?" Sanji offered then with his gentle expression _again_, and Zoro was mesmerized (once again), he actually had to hold up his jaw from dropping to the floor… or the table.

"Uh… sure," Zoro said almost faintly. It was seriously bizarre. For a moment he thought that Sanji was really pretty. It was totally absurd… well; and probably because of Kei's influence. Anyway, even if that was the case, Zoro would never admit that in million years!

—**Zoro Roronoa Zoro—**

"Uwooo! It's greaaaat!" Luffy shouted in total spirit as he witnessed the amount of food Sanji had made. He was impressed that Sanji could do it so well despite the limited time.

"Eat up, shitty boss!" Sanji grinned, chewing a broken wooden chopstick between his teeth.

Luffy grinned, a cheek-splitting grin at Sanji with so much gratitude radiating in his face. He was actually a bit worried when he stopped by Sanji's home this morning finding that Sanji wasn't there. Sanji's father, a very eccentric old man with blond hair and pigtailed mustaches named Zeff, had no idea where Sanji had gone to. Yet, he assured Luffy that it was a recurrence event, so he didn't have to get worried over 'the eggplant'.

_That old man actually calls__ Sanji an 'eggplant,'_— Luffy snickered at the thought.

Then Luffy remembered that he wasn't alone in the table as Zoro's green hair made its appearance in Luffy's peripheral vision. "Zoro! Don't touch my share!" he hurriedly glared at his second in command while securing his share of the food on the table, which was three fourth of all.

Zoro shook his head at him before turning his face to Sanji. "You don't want to join?"

There was a brief pause before he replied. "I'm a cook. I'm happy enough seeing you guys enjoy eating. Besides…," Sanji glanced at Vivi and Nami who were eating their respectable lunch together on the other side of the room. "I have to greet my beautiful ladies!" he said as he hurriedly approached Nami and Vivi, greeting them and making fool of himself in front of the girls.

"Sanji is really interesting," Luffy, not particularly sensing something strange about Sanji, grinned at the view while stuffing his food inside his mouth.

"Aah, too interesting," Zoro nodded, shaking his head again.

Luffy noticed the different expression on his best friend's face; Zoro's tone was quite gentler as well. Luffy raised his eyebrows in wonder. "Now, _that_ is interesting," he commented, not releasing his gaze from the green haired boy.

Zoro apparently noticed being watched and turned his face at Luffy. "What?"

"You're a lot softer to Sanji now than you were yesterday. I had actually expected that you still wanted to throttle each other's throats when I came to school this morning, but you're actually quite civil towards one another. Even Sanji didn't use his _hard-core _insult as much as usual." Luffy pointed slightly, eyes deep and curious.

"Um… huh?" Zoro looked dumbfounded for a second, but Luffy wasn't fooled. He had known Zoro for a quite long time and could read him better than anyone else… well, except Nami, of course… because she was a bit special, one of a kind, in reading people and situation.

"Especially with the unresolved fight yesterday noon," Luffy grinned again, totally amused seeing Zoro fidget. Jeez, Zoro never fidgeted! What the hell was going on?

"I am not being softer," Zoro complained a little, his face slightly flushing and he looked really uncomfortable.

"You can tell me anything, you know? Did you actually finally fight yesterday after school or something? Because… the tension between you two had actually dissipated into none at all," Luffy finished his food while talking, and amazingly, he could always speak clearly while chewing and gulping his food. But he always did that, so Zoro probably didn't even spare a glance at the impossibility.

"Well… you could say that…," Zoro said while looking away, a bead of sweat on his cheek.

_He's being evasive_—Luffy narrowed his eyes in suspicion.

"That's not what happened, huh?" Luffy guessed and Zoro flinched a little. The green haired boy was actually looking guilty. Luffy sighed. Zoro was keeping something to himself and it was probably bigger than he thought if he couldn't even tell Luffy about it. "Fine, I won't pry. But you can always talk to me if you want to," he smiled and slapped Zoro's shoulder with a cheery grin, deciding to give some space to Zoro. He probably just needed more time to sort of his mind and words before he could tell Luffy about what happened.

Zoro smiled small at him in return, and Luffy decided he would talk to Usopp about this as well. Maybe telling Nami and Vivi wasn't a bad idea either. Zoro was always the last to welcome a newcomer on their circle after all. _But maybe… just maybe…._

Luffy looked at Sanji's gentle smiling face and then back at Zoro who was _back once again_ staring at Sanji with contemplation.

_Maybe Sanji will be more than a newcomer for Zoro…_—Luffy couldn't help feeling that way.

—**Zoro Roronoa Zoro—**

**Smoker's Residence; Living Room: 17.45**

"Oh dear…," Sanji sat at the couch while sighing, loosening his tie a bit. "That was actually quite interesting… acting to be someone else."

"Tell me about it," Zoro said with a sigh as well. "I think Nami was plotting something nasty… and Luffy actually noticed that something was off with me today," Zoro shook his head to clear his mind.

"I was not that good at playing as Sanji-san?" Sanji turned his worried face at Zoro.

"No, you were okay. It was me. Both Nami and Luffy noticed that I looked at you differently… today," Zoro cleared his throat before he entwined both hands in front of his mouth, thinking.

"Different how?" Sanji looked puzzled.

"Well, probably because it lacks something… heat, tension, things that I feel when I look at the dartbrow," Zoro answered absentmindedly and missed an odd expression on Sanji's face.

"I see…," Sanji looked at another way now, looking down at his own lap. "Well, we just have to endure the weird stare for a couple of days, at least until we can go to find… _me_," he suggested sometime later, probably trying to be positive. "And Zoro-sama can pretend that I am the actual Sanji-san, it will be alright to look at the body (Sanji-san) the way you used to."

Zoro looked up and landed his gaze on Sanji's face. "Looking Sanji the way I used to?" Zoro thought it was rather odd. "You really want me to do that? Because… I don't think I can. Essentially, you are Kei, and not the ero-cook, and I perfectly know that. So, it will be impossible for me to look at you the way I look at him."

"That is why; I said Zoro-sama can _pretend_," Sanji said with a look that suspiciously close to pleading.

"I'm not really good at pretending…," Zoro was sheepish and apologetic. "Well, I can appear to be pretty impassive though, but my friends are the exception because they know me so well."

Sanji was silent again, eyes never leaving Zoro's. "You think… your friends are everything."

"Pretty much," Zoro nodded surely.

"I thought so… the way you look at Luffy-san is pretty special. And to Sanji-san as well…," Kei looked at the floor.

"Oh wow, wait a sec. Sanji? He hadn't been my friend. I had only known him for a day," Zoro protested.

Sanji chuckled while looking up at Zoro again. "You are pretty dense too. _Past tense_? Do you even realize that you are not denying your special gaze towards your friends?"

Zoro flushed slightly and Sanji giggled again. "That obvious, huh?" he scratched his head, pretty embarrassed.

"Hmm… I wished I could see your other sides more…," Sanji looked at Zoro in the eye tenderly and he had to hold down the blush so as not to spread further on his face. Again, Sanji chuckled, seeing Zoro's awkward embarrassment.

"It's not funny," Zoro slightly pouted.

"Oh, but it is," Sanji said with a smile now. He looked at Zoro's eyes tenderly. "You are so close to your friends, I am quite jealous," he admitted.

Zoro was startled and looked up at Sanji with widened eyes. "Kei…."

"I really… really wish that I was a part of your life here…," Sanji then showed a very lonely expression.

"Hei…," Zoro softened his gaze and reached for Sanji's hand. "You _are_ part of my life, at least now," he reassured.

"But not for long…," Sanji shook his head, looking quite miserable. "Because I am no longer…."

_Alive…_

The word was hard to say, to _think_ even, so Zoro understood why Sanji was so silent suddenly. He didn't know how to comfort the blond. He wasn't good with words.

"Zoro-sama… what if…," Sanji sounded choked for a moment before he took a deep breath and continued, "What if I didn't want to go? What if I wanted to stay here, in this body… together with you?"

Even though Sanji looked afraid, and even though Zoro knew it was a hypothetical question, he couldn't help turning serious at that. "Then I have no choice but to remove you by force," he said, tone was cold even to his own ears. He conveniently forgot that he didn't have Haki and it was impossible to perform a removal without one. He couldn't possibly slash Sanji with Sandai Kitetsu as well because it would kill not only Kei but also Sanji.

Sanji looked up at Zoro with shocked look, expression was close to _hurt_. But it was quickly gone as he looked at his laps again. "Okay…," he spoke quietly.

Zoro had to squeeze the blonde's hand to make sure that he understood. Kei couldn't stay in Sanji's body permanently. Sanji had life on his own while Kei's was over four years ago. It would be very selfish for Kei to take it away from Sanji.

And Zoro would make sure Sanji could get his life back with any mean necessary.

**Zoro—Roronoa—Zoro**

**Grand Line Police Station; Smoker's Office: 01.30**

In the end, Smoker didn't come home that day.

Well, he couldn't. With so many crimes to solve and his side project, meaning: he had to look for the old record about Sanji's case after asking Ryuuma (which always left him with more questions than answers as usual), he didn't have enough time to eat, let alone to sleep.

Smoker sighed and riffled to check his reports for his boss, Garp, for today. That old man… though he looked easy going, he actually worked Smoker to the bone. Smoker massaged his temples tiredly and he could kill for a cup of coffee right now. He should have asked Tashigi to get him some before she went home earlier.

Smoker yawned and put down the reports on the table before he looked at the stack of documents beside his feet under his table. He had to call all his contacts to get his hands on those records. He actually had no idea those people recorded all the supernatural events happening in all over the world. Well, Japan had a lot of those records by the way, from _Heian_ period to _Meiji_, and of course, way before those times.

There were so many _ayakashis_ his head hurt a little to read all of them. Smoker sighed again. The extent he would go for Zoro… the kid had no idea. Well, Zoro was his best friend's kid, so of course he would do anything to protect him. Alan would have done the same thing if the situation was reversed.

Smoker shook his head to clear his mind before he made room, took the records to put on his office desk and began his research. He had gone through the half of it before he found some similar cases. _Possession_. But unlike what had happened to Sanji, all the possession had distinctive characteristics. A lot of possession occurred to a person who was disrespectful towards pagan gods, or _ayakashis_ that were turned from animal's reis. Those ayakashi were protecting certain areas in mountain of sacred grounds, and of course _human_ would ruin the peace by acting childish and irresponsible. Though, with proper ceremony and a little bit of haki, those ayakashi could be driven away peacefully.

Well, at least before the people possessed committed suicide or did more harm to other people. Ayakashi had certain rules about themselves. Smoker had yet to figure out how those rules work or what those rules were since he couldn't connect to them. All _shaman_ or connectors were burned after the disaster they had caused several decades ago. Ryuuma was pretty vague when he told him the story as Smoker was training under him.

Zoro was a connector, but he wasn't a shaman. He could hear and feel and see, but he had no power to remove or bring them back. His gift could do more good than harm. But this Sanji… he could bring the rei into his body without any resistance… just like an empty container.

_Like dolls__…—_Smoker widened his eyes when he made the connection and everything seemed clicking into place. _Hey, hey! It's Impossible! That 'family' is already…!_

"Oh boy," A bead of sweat broke out from Smoker's face. "That's why _his father_ didn't let me ask further about his son…," he almost laughed at his own stupidity and slowness to catch all of the signs.

_That painting alone should have been a dead giveaway __of who Blackleg Sanji is…_

**Zoro—Roronoa—Zoro**

**Smoker's House, Zoro's Room: 03.15**

Zoro was asleep peacefully on his bed when he heard the sound, the quiet screech of metal against marble. He opened his eyes in alert as he felt his bed dip on the side of his body, and boy was he surprised to find Sanji's blank face on top of his.

Sanji stared deeply at Zoro and the dark green eyes frozen, drowned inside the bluest pool he had ever seen. He had no idea what Sanji was doing, but Zoro's voice was stuck in his throat and he couldn't perform any single thought as he saw that mesmerizing cerulean eyes.

Zoro took a deep breath before exhaling it slowly, so slowly it was maddening. "What… are you doing?" He didn't want to scare Sanji away, so he whispered those words carefully.

"I just want to see your face…. I wondered how you would look when you were sleeping and not on guard," Sanji said softly, also whispering with his low voice which sounded incredibly sexy for some reason Zoro didn't want to think about.

"Why aren't you sleeping?" Zoro gulped slightly when Sanji reached his hand to stroke Zoro's cheek gently, so gentle it gave Zoro a Goosebumps.

Sanji lowered his eyes at Zoro's lips and Zoro's heartbeat increased its pace tenfold. "I was afraid…," the blond whispered and lowered his face closer to Zoro's. "-…that if I fell asleep, _he _would wake up, and I would be forced to leave…."

Zoro could feel Sanji's warm breath, tingling, mingling with his, one of his hands was on Zoro's chest, feeling his heartbeat, and the other on Zoro's cheek and jaw, stroking, caressing, and he was almost certain that Sanji was straddling him since he could feel one of Sanji's legs between his. Zoro forced himself to summon his will power to calm down, that this was because _Kei_ was not in her right mind, because she was a _rei_ and she was starving of human contact after four years of wandering (though it didn't make any sense because she didn't even remember dying), and he tried very hard not to think about how warm Sanji's body was, flushed on top of him. How hot it was.

_Fuck!_—Zoro's body, precisely 'little Zoro' was responding traitorously. _Damn teenager hormone!_

"Sanji," Zoro rasped while trying very-very hard not to stammer or stutter or _panic_. Sanji widened his eyes at that. "You don't want to do this…. This isn't you."

Sanji narrowed his eye and hissed lowly, "My name is Kei. Megumi. Call my name, Zoro-sama."

"No," Zoro replied difficultly. "You are Sanji. Blackleg Sanji. Kei is a rei that possessed your body. This isn't what you want. You have to fight it, Ero-cook." Zoro stared deeply at Sanji's eye and there was a flicker of recognition, and suddenly Sanji gasped and rolled over from on top of Zoro to lay beside him, clutching his head.

"You are wrong…! I am Megumi!" Sanji shouted, eye shutting close hard, "My name is Tachibana Megumi!"

Zoro quickly sat up to check the blond. "Hey, hey… you okay?" He had never been so confused and scared. Sanji was acting very-very strange. He was unstable. He was probably fighting back. "Sanji!"

"No!" Sanji's eye was still shut and he struggled every time Zoro called his name.

"Sanji!" Zoro shouted once again and grabbed his shoulders. Sanji Immediately opened his eye, wide, his face sweating and his breathing hard.

"W-what…?" Sanji looked confused, his eyes unfocused as he looked at everywhere. "What… happened?" he rasped, still panting.

"Sanji?" Zoro asked tentatively, not very sure if it was still Kei or Sanji there.

"Marimo? What are you doing here?" Sanji looked indignant as he seemed recognizing Zoro's face.

_Ah, Sanji it is._

"Hoh… great, you're back to yourself." Zoro sighed slowly in relief. He wasn't even sure what just happened, but it seemed Sanji woke up from his sleepwalking.

"Wait, wait! What the hell happened? Where am I?" Sanji sat up immediately and frantically looked around, seeming really confused for not recognizing his surroundings.

"You're in my bedroom, ero-cook," Zoro said with a slight grin. "Seems you brought me in your dream eh, for you to sleepwalk to my home and my room and then to _attack me_ when I was sleeping on _my bed_?" Oh, yes, Zoro was in teasing mood.

Sanji flushed at that. "What? Why would I want to attack you in my dream? If I want to attack someone, I will want to come to Nami-san or Vivi-chan's room!" Sanji set his mortified expression, looking traumatized.

"Says a person who just attacked me," Zoro smirked evilly.

"Asshole! I didn't have a choice in this! I was sleepwalking for god's sake!" The blond protested even harder, face still flushing red in (probably) mostly embarrassment and in small part annoyance. "Shit…! Did I really…?" He looked around again, gulping.

"Yah, well… if I hadn't known your condition, I probably had punched you in the face, or kneed you in the groin," Zoro chuckled.

"Ugh… shit…! I'm so sorry, Zoro…," Sanji looked away, looking pretty bad and very guilty. Or probably feeling humiliated more than everything. Poor thing.

Zoro took pity on him and sighed lightly. "It's okay. You're unconscious," he said.

"Damn it, it's not! Not okay at all! How did this happen? I am in medication for fuck sake! I shouldn't be sleepwalking! The medication doesn't even work!" Sanji looked really affronted and perplexed. "Fuck!" he covered his face with one hand. "Why did this happen to me…?"

Sanji looked really confused and helpless. Zoro was sympathetic. He could _almost _understand what Sanji was going through. The first time Zoro could see any rei, he thought he was going nuts as well. He couldn't imagine how Sanji felt waking up in different place from where he fell asleep, not knowing what happened and what he had done.

"Hey…, it's okay. You didn't do anything wrong this time," Zoro said, touching Sanji's shoulder. Sanji flinched a bit at his touch, and Zoro knew he was uncomfortable with the closeness. He was really Sanji.

"Aside attacking you when you're asleep?" Sanji muttered darkly and weakly, still not facing him, still covering his face. He must be feeling really ashamed right then.

"Yeah, beside that. Look," Zoro forced Sanji to look at him. "No harm done, okay? We're fine," he assured him with a small smile.

"Ugh…! But I don't know what I will do next time I fall in this annoying catastrophic condition…! Stupid useless meds!" he shouted in frustration. "Fuck!"

"Hey, I know about it. I can always try to stop you whenever you fall in that condition and aren't being yourself. How does that sound?" Zoro made a proposition.

"What?" Sanji looked up at Zoro with a dumbstruck expression.

"Let's make a deal. I will keep my eye on you in exchange of free lunch every day. That okay?" Zoro grinned.

"You'll really do that?" Sanji looked dubious.

"Of course. Your food bribe can get you anywhere," Zoro smirked at Sanji and he was sure Sanji would be okay with it. It was serious indeed, the situation, and he needed to talk to him about the rei and the possession, but it could wait. He didn't want to freak Sanji even more after what he had gone through.

"Okay… okay. Just, let me know if I've done something big when I'm not myself. I'm sick of not knowing what happened and remaining clueless about it." Sanji sighed and closed his eyes, looking tired.

Sanji's medication wasn't working because he was possessed. And possession tended to drain the host's life energy. Zoro had to inform that fact carefully. Preferably with Sanji's father around, so they would know what they were dealing with and they could set some precaution to avoid the possessing.

However, Zoro still couldn't help feeling worried of what had happened just now because he hadn't gotten the answer yet. If Sanji woke up… then what happened to Kei?

**Zoro—Roronoa—Zoro**

**Baratie; 15.2****0—**

Smoker was back once again in the restaurant where Blackleg Sanji lived with his father. It was quite a nice business, actually. The food was outstanding, and the place was nice and homey… in _French_-mania like one. He had spoken to the owner, Zeff, about Sanji's condition the day before. Of course he was careful not to reveal the 'supernatural' event experienced by Sanji, but Zeff seemed knowing what happened and saved him from having to explain some bullshits.

Zeff knew Sanji had a _special_ condition which forced the blond boy to _sometimes_ go missing without notice. Smoker knew Zeff knew because the moment he flashed his badge, Zeff just sighed and asked: _"What have my idiot sleepwalking son done now?" _and he seemed more annoyed rather than concerned.

Smoker concluded at that time that Zeff didn't know anything about Sanji's special ability…. Well, if it could be called ability anyway. Smoker tended to call it as an inherited gene, since Saji had no awareness of it. Just like haki which was latent ability whether the bearer could see the rei or not. The differences were a) haki wasn't inherited; b) you didn't need to be a shaman to have haki, while Sanji was….

_Sanji i__s…_

Huh, Smoker had never seen his kind in his entire life. It was so rare… it was almost like receiving an honor to actually meet his kind in person.

When Smoker once again entered the restaurant, Zeff looked up from his guest to look at Smoker. Smoker recognized the older man's expression as a meaningful, knowing look. And Smoker knew that Zeff knew that Smoker had figured it out all.

"You sly old man…," Smoker said with an annoyed, humiliated smirk, a bead of sweat on his cheek. "You already knew what he's capable of."

Zeff sighed and excused himself from his guest before he looked back at Smoker. He _grunted_ politely at the colonel and gestured him to follow him and he did. They went to the back, where the kitchen was busy with activities that no one would care about what they were talking about.

"Figure that out, Colonel? Took you long enough," Zeff's tone was kind of underestimating and really annoying, the smartass.

"You have a lot of explaining to do, Redleg Zeff." Smoker was serious this time, and he wouldn't let the old man deter him from the main question. "What's the purpose of bringing the _devil_ into my nation, _outsider_?" He could be really cold and cruel if he wanted to, and Sanji being here, in Japan, was a national security risk he didn't want to take.

"Are you going to treat us as enemies, or would you recognize us as people in the same world as you, who actually need help, brat?" Zeff half challenged Smoker, and Smoker detected a worried tone despite the smartass demeanor.

"An S.O.S.?" he actually looked up at that, more intrigued rather than concerned. After all, Sanji was still a kid, a teenager, who knew nothing about what he could do. "What is this about?"

"Sanji's ability… It's getting out of hand," Zeff spoke lowly, but his voice was grave and urgent, making Smoker gulp at the seriousness of the situation. "He's only _half_ without his significant other. Unpredictable… unstable… very dangerous. I heard his _priest_ had been awoken in Japan. So I brought him here in order to get them close… to _control _the effect of Sanji's ability towards the _other side_, after the incident in France…."

Smoker paled slightly as he heard the word 'incident.' _National security risk, check_.

"Who wore his body at that time?" Smoker kind of wanted and didn't want to hear the answer, but his curiosity always won, so he asked the question anyway.

Zeff was silent for a couple of seconds before he responded slowly. "…Napoleon Bonaparte."

_What…?—_Smoker couldn't help widening his eyes at the answer.

**Zoro—Roronoa—Zoro**

**Smoker's House****; Living Room; After School: 17.20—**

Both Sanji and Zoro were sitting on the couch. They looked at each other tensely (and tiredly in Sanji's case). He didn't know why, but he always felt exhausted whenever he had the sleepwalking episode. He tried very hard not to fall asleep again after last night incident. He didn't want to go back to sleepwalking after all.

Zoro actually accompanied him until morning, talking and sparing (the marimo's idea of wasting time), and Sanji cooking something for early breakfast for them, and as usual, the cooking was splendid. It actually helped him not to fall asleep again. Then he tried to subtly be as close to Zoro as possible during school time, though it still earned them odd glances from their classmates.

Sanji didn't really give a fuck… okay, maybe a little (for Nami and Vivi), but his situation was graver than being perfect for those beautiful ladies, so he tried not to glare at everyone (the guys) when followed Zoro around. It was very humiliating!

And now this… this SUCKED big time, really!

"Wait, I'm _what_?" Sanji couldn't help cleaning his ear a bit for being sure that he had heard Zoro wrong.

"You're possessed," Zoro repeated carefully, looking at Sanji with serious expression.

"Ha… right… You're nuts," Sanji laughed and shook his head acrimoniously at the green haired _anemone_. That totally wasn't funny for fuck sake! What the hell did he think he was doing?

"I'm serious," Zoro looked affronted for a second.

"Look, I know you can see _things_ other people can't, but _possession_? Really? Might as well tell me I have a multiple personality disorder, Marimo. That's more believable. My condition is a _medical_ condition. You can't just spout nonsense that there are some ghosts taking control of my body and… and did things that I didn't want to and then break the news to me like it's an everyday occurrence!" By the time he finished, Sanji had been shouting and totally disturbed at what Zoro had said.

Sanji had never thought about that possibility, being possessed by ghost… _spirit_, or whatever Zoro called those things. He had never seen one all his life. He didn't even feel anything! That wasn't normal, right? At least he should feel something, _anything_, if something took control of him and forced him to commit things against his will.

"It's not an everyday occurrence," Zoro replied, his voice cool and composed. Sanji hated him a bit more for him being so calm at everything.

Even last night… he meant _this morning_, when Sanji actually attacked Zoro in his sleep, he treated the incident like it was nothing! While Sanji had to summon his deepest will power not to scream in frustration at everything… because he had no awareness of it and no recollection of yesterday event _at all! _The marimo was an ass!

"On the contrary, it was very rare and… I have never seen something like this before," Zoro continued, face scrunched up like he was thinking hard. "I'm still fairly new in this world as well, but your _possession_ is not like every possession I've ever heard before. I have no idea how you can get possessed while you have no awareness of those beings. Worse, I actually didn't feel anything when you were possessed, even though I'm very sensitive of those things. That's actually a bit alarming."

Zoro's tone sounded genuinely worried, and the marimo wasn't the type of person who would make a joke on something like this. Sanji knew this very well from his interaction with Luffy, Nami and Vivi. And Usopp… heck from everyone else as well; Zoro was a serious person. He rarely joked around.

Sanji closed his eyes and sighed long. "Please tell me you're joking," Sanji was resigned, pleading even. He just couldn't get his head to agree on the idea of him being possessed by a spirit. But if that was true, it actually explained why his meds never worked. If it wasn't a medical condition, then… of course there was no use of taking medicine.

"I wanted to, believe me. But it's not a joke, ero-cook." (_"Would you stop calling me like that?"—Sanji protested in annoyance._) "You're really possessed…," Zoro paused slightly, not sure if he stopped to care about his protest, but Sanji opened his eyes as Zoro was silent suddenly. The marimo looked hesitating.

Sanji raised his eyebrow at him. "What?"

"The _rei_ that possessed you…," Zoro took a deep breath before continuing. "I know _her_."

Sanji scrunched up his face _once again_. "_What?_" He must have heard that wrong _again_. He really should check his hearing out to a doctor sometimes. Did Zoro just say he actually _knew_ the spirit… or _rei_ (he called it rei, right?), and it was a _she_?

"The rei," Zoro repeated. "I know the rei's identity," he looked slightly flushed, but Sanji didn't know why until his next words, "She was my fiancé, Tachibana Megumi." He finished it with a cough that poorly disguised his embarrassment.

There was a rather long uncomfortable silence before "WHAT?" Sanji screeched in shock after processing and digesting the information in his head. "Fianc—, _seriously_?" That had to be a joke, seriously. _A. Big. JOKE!_

"Yeah, that's why, _that_ happened last night," Zoro mumbled slightly, not looking at Sanji, face still slightly red.

Heat rose from Sanji's neck to his face and Sanji blushed hard in embarrassment as well at that. He knew what 'that' referred to… the incident on the bed, in Zoro's room. His face was hot when he remembered how close he was to actually…. Sanji shook his head, didn't want to remember it. "I-, I see…," he didn't know what to say to that. Sure, that explained a lot. If the spirit was in love with Zoro… and if it lusted after him…

Sanji shuddered at that, paling visibly. Thank GOD he actually woke up from the possession. If not… he didn't want to think about that. Not that far. _Don't go there, Sanji!_

"Okay…, okay…. So, I'm possessed. Then what, marimo?" Sanji asked again after calming himself down.

"Well…, for starter, you have to stay away from any rei," Zoro said contemplatively.

"Right, good idea… _Hellooo!_ Can't even see the thing here!" Sanji made a face at Zoro, giving him '_are you an idiot?_' look.

"Oh… right, you're not equipped with the sight," Zoro mumbled begrudgingly in realization, clicking his tongue. "What an inconvenient body you have."

"Equipped… what am I? A Robot?" Sanji was indignant. Zoro talked like he was the normal one and not the other way around. Normal people didn't see any spirit, period.

Well, normal people didn't get possessed as well… not as easily as Sanji, anyway. That wasn't the problem here. He had to stay away from any spirit, so how would he do that without even notice he was being close to one?

"Maybe we should put something with _haki_ near you…," Zoro mumbled again and Sanji couldn't help wondering _'What the heck is haki?'_ in a confused look.

"What do you think about _O-Fuda_ (2)?" Zoro suggested suddenly with a slightly hopeful expression.

Like Sanji would knew how that made any difference. "I can get those from the temple?" Sanji wasn't sure if he was asking or answering. He had heard about those papers which apparently could protect people from evil spirit.

"You're okay with wearing it all the time?"

Sanji had no idea what that meant. Wearing paper on his body? Like sticking it on his skin?

Seemingly reading Sanji's perplexed expression Zoro continued, "You can fold it and put it in a small bag and wear it as an accessory."

_Oh… okay, __put it in a small package and wear it as a necklace—_Sanji sighed slightly in relief.

"I can deal with it," Sanji agreed. But then he felt something was missing in this situation. He looked at Zoro with puzzled eyes. "Then… what happens now?"

"What _what_ happens?" Zoro tilted his head aside slightly.

"Um…," Sanji was hesitating and looking at anywhere but Zoro, "You know… your fiancé…."

"Oh," Zoro looked rather surprised. "I… don't really know. I mean… I'm not so sure if she's gone or if she's still there… somewhere," he scratched his head lightly and maybe it was just Sanji, but he felt that Zoro hadn't told him everything, but he tried to focus of what the most urgent problem was.

"Wait, aren't you supposed to be a guy _who can see_? How come you weren't sure if you could see her?" Sanji was confused and feeling like protesting more. He didn't know why his world was suddenly turned upside down like this. Bearing his sleepwalking condition was hard enough, and now Zoro had to complicate it by telling him it wasn't sleepwalking but a possession.

Might as well tell Sanji that he was nuts. That would be easier.

"Well, like I said, ero-cook. This was the first time I saw something like this. Your presence… maybe my radar was blocked by whatever you're oozing off from that skinny body of yours."

"Hey!" The marimo was really rude. Sanji hated him more and more.

"My guardian, Smoker, is investigating this phenomenon. We can ask him later after he's back from work…." The green lawn-head continued, his tone calm, probably trying to reassure Sanji as well.

"Okay… so we wait," Sanji nodded slowly and rested his back on the backrest at the couch. He stared at the muted television program for two minutes before he was bored. He looked at Zoro's brooding feature and studied his face silently.

Then out of blue, he had the sudden urge to know Zoro better. "Tell me about your fiancé." He hadn't had enough time to think what he was doing before he shot out the question. He'd much wanted to bite his own tongue after that. Stupid mouth!

Zoro's head snapped to face Sanji and he stared at the blond for a moment until Sanji felt like squirming under that calculative measuring gaze. "Why do you want to know about that?" he finally asked.

"No particular reason. It's just… you don't strike me as a type of person who will settle down with one woman." Sanji shrugged before eyeing Zoro from head to toe in slow glance. He knew he made Zoro a little uncomfortable.

"Hey, that sounded a lot like I would be a harem master or something," Zoro deadpanned, but he wasn't sure if the marimo felt insulted. "Sure I will settle for a woman… someday," Zoro said, slowly looking away. "Kei… _Megumi_ was a nice girl. Everyone liked her."

"Hmmm… and you did?" Sanji pressed further, eyes not leaving Zoro's face to read his expression.

"Of course," Zoro nodded, but his tone was flat and even.

"But you weren't really in love with her, were you?" Sanji guessed.

"Please. We were thirteen. We didn't even understand what that 'L' word really meant." Zoro rolled his eyes. "Didn't change the fact that I cared about her… a _lot_. She was a family."

Sanji was stunned for a moment before he felt a bit bad. "Sorry…," he said a bit guiltily. "Losing her must have been tough."

"It was… but it's been four years. I already moved on." Zoro closed his eyes now.

"Four years… that's kinda long… wait. Then… what made her wander around aimlessly?" Sanji inquired again, more tentatively this time.

"When she…," Zoro made a gulping sound before continuing, "-when she died… her body was never recovered. She wanted me to find her… literally."

"She wanted you to find her—!" Oh god. That was awful. Sanji made a horror look.

"If that helps her to move on, I will do pretty much anything," Zoro said with a small smile. "She deserves a proper burial… and a peaceful rest after all."

Sanji widened his eyes for a moment, fascinated by the soft look Zoro made on his face. _Wow… that's…_

Sanji blushed slightly as he realized that he was staring at Zoro with awe, not that he would admit that. Zoro had a really nice smiling expression. He always looked so gruff and serious (not that Sanji knew any better; he just met the guy a couple days ago), so it was a bit surprising. Sanji was just surprised. _Really_.

_The marimo isn't so bad after all…_

"You're right… marimo." That, Sanji could relent to, he was kind of glad that he found a thing about Zoro that he didn't despise. Under that hard mask and shell of indifference, laid a caring boy…

Maybe… just maybe… Sanji thought Zoro and he could be friends after all.

**Zoro—Roronoa—Zoro**

**Smoker's House; Living Room: 20.30—**

Smoker arrived at home with Zeff tailing behind him.

Yes, the father was following him to retrieve Sanji back, apparently. Smoker had informed him that Sanji was being watched by Zoro, a freeloader in Smoker's house, and they should be at home right then.

Smoker didn't come home the night before, so he was a bit worried if everything was still okay, but Zoro didn't contact him at all for any dangerous alert, so he assumed everything was under control.

When he opened the door of his house, an aroma of delicious dinner was wafting around the house. Smoker widened his eyes at that.

"Oh, it's Sanji's cooking." The blond old man behind Smoker said as he seemed noticing it. "I thought he was possessed?" He turned his face at Smoker, raising his eyebrows.

"I have no idea. Probably the rei was also a good cook," Smoker removed his coat and put it at the coat hanger beside the door. "Make yourself at home, Zeff. I'll call the boys," he said as he walked further forward to the kitchen.

"Zoro," he called his green haired freeloader as he entered the kitchen. What he found inside was the blond haired boy who was chopping some garlic.

"Oh," Sanji stopped his activity and looked over turned to face Smoker. "Ah… you must be Zoro's guardian, Smoker-san?"

"That would be me…," Smoker replied before setting his confusion, "Wait, you're supposed to know that… Megumi," he continued.

"Ah… no, not Megumi. Sanji, Blackleg Sanji," Sanji said with a nervous smile. "Um… Zoro said I was possessed, but somehow, last night I could regain the consciousness back," he turned off the cooking stove and cleaned his hand on the apron he had taken liberty to use from the hanger. Not that Smoker minded. He didn't use it. It was mostly used by Tashigi when she was around to cook something for him.

Smoker widened his eyes at that. "You're the real Sanji?" Sanji nodded. "How…? I meant… did Zoro actually perform a _Jorei _(3)?"

"Uh… Jorei?" Sanji looked really confused.

"Never mind, you have no idea what it is anyway. Where's Zoro?" Smoker changed the subject immediately. He didn't want to risk Sanji knowing too much about _that world_. With what he was capable of, it was wise to let Sanji stay in the dark. If he knew what he could do with his ability…, Smoker shuddered. He didn't want to have to think about that. If Sanji was a good guy, it would be no problem. But… if he wasn't…, then it would be like witch-hunting all over again.

It could be very nasty. Too horrible for a kid such as Sanji.

"He's taking a shower…," Sanji said, still looking slightly confused.

"Okay, we will wait until he finish," Smoker nodded. "Might as well finish your cooking, kid. Then we can talk about you and your… problem," he grunted in a slight annoyance. "By the way, you can prepare food for four. I have a guest you need to talk to." Then he went out to the living room again to accompany the guest, a.k.a. Sanji's father, Redleg Zeff.

"It's Sanji?" Zeff asked from the sofa.

"It is," Smoker said before sitting beside the old man.

Zeff smirked. "Record time. Usually it took four to five days minimum before he could go back to himself. Your _freeloader_ must have done something incredible to take Sanji's consciousness back," he said, looking slightly pleased.

"What are you thinking?" Smoker narrowed his eyes, curious of what was in the old man's head.

"You said this Zoro also had ability, right? See something other people can't? Hear and feel what other people can't? Isn't that the synonym of a _connector_?" There was a gleam in Zeff's eyes that made Smoker a bit uneasy.

Smoker hesitated for a moment before answering "He is… but he's not a shaman. His body is rejecting the rei," he continued hastily before Zeff could think anything else.

"That's what I thought. He wasn't born to be a shaman, but somehow… he got the power, huh? Dying experience?" Zeff asked again, further digging into Zoro's ability origin.

"Death experience," Smoker corrected.

"Even better. He's one of a kind, huh?" Zeff's smirk widened accordingly.

"What is this all about?" Smoker asked back, a bit apprehensive. He didn't know what the old man was up to, but he was uncomfortable sharing information about Zoro to a stranger (even though he was from the same world). "What's with all the question?" he demanded.

Zeff closed his eyes and scoffed slightly. "He's _the one_."

"The one what?" Smoker was confused. This old man didn't make any sense at all.

"The _priest_ I was talking about earlier." Zeff grinned now, and Smoker's face fault.

"Uh… sorry for interrupting your excitement, but Zoro isn't a priest," Smoker said with still confused look.

"Oh no…, the _priest_ isn't a title, brat. It's a special _name_ for a human like him."

"A human like what?"

Smoker snapped and looked up as Zoro joined them at the living room. The green haired boy looked at Smoker then at Zeff with curious expression. "Are you guys talking about me?" he asked, not letting his gaze wander from Zeff. "Who are you, old man?"

"Zoro," Smoker nodded at him and then looked at Zeff before he introduced the old man to the boy. "Redleg Zeff. Sanji's father."

"Oh…, sorry for that, uncle. Didn't know that you're the cook's old man. I'm Zoro," he nodded, rather politely.

"Zeff," the older man also nodded.

"So…, " Zoro walked around the couch to sit on the unoccupied seat, "Coming to pick up Sanji?"

"Yeah, and to talk to you," Zeff said.

"Okay… I also have some things to ask anyway," Zoro nodded, understanding.

Smoker watched them made a small chit-chat before Zoro took up the matter and laid it on the table. "It's about Sanji's condition… I assumed you're aware of that?"

Zeff laughed slightly. "The kid wanted to call his condition a sleepwalking condition. I got entirely another idea. I assumed you've got your other ideas too?"

Zoro looked hesitating for a second, looking at Smoker for permission and Smoker nodded. "Go ahead." It wasn't like he hadn't told him anyway.

"Really?" Zoro looked surprised. "Okay then… Sanji was possessed." He bluntly said it.

"I know," Zeff replied it cooly.

"You did? Then why haven't you said anything to him?" Zoro looked confused.

"He doesn't have to know that," Zeff shrugged.

"Well, he should. That way he can set precaution to avoid being possessed." Zoro argued.

"Avoid?" Zeff chuckled. "Oh, kid… you have no idea what you're talking about." Zef shook his head in amusement. "I take it, he's still fairly new in our world?" Apparently, he directed the question at Smoker even though he wasn't letting his gaze stray from Zoro, studying the boy from head to toe.

"Yep, he's just like a two months old baby," Smoker chuckled as well.

"Hey! I'm here you know!" Zoro protested for suddenly being a third person in the conversation.

"My bad, kid… but for Sanji, avoiding being possessed is almost _impossible_, since he's a Shaniwa." Zeff said, still smirking.

"A _what_?" Zoro looked even more confused than before.

Well, of course. The kid hadn't known about that, no one knew that term anymore since the _shaniwa_ family was supposed to be extinct.

"A _Shaniwa_ (3). A kind of shaman, and a powerful one to boot, but not by choice; He is a natural connector, whose body could channel any supernatural beings that got closer enough to him without any resistance, and he has no idea what is happening and he never will. It's in his blood. His body is like a natural container and he has no ability whatsoever to control it. This kind of shaman… there is only one of this kind of shaman in every generation, and this kind of shaman can be only born by one very special family." Smoker explained helpfully.

"A special shaman who can only be born in a special family…?" Zoro widened his eyes in disbelief at that.

"Yes… and the family's supposed to be extinct by now, but it seemed one is still around," Smoker looked at Zeff with narrowed eyes. "You changed your name after the last witch-hunting, huh?"

"It's hundred years ago, brat. And it's not my call. It's my wife's great-great great grandfather idea. Wiping our clan will only cause chaos," Zeff said with demeanor like he was a noble.

Smoker gritted his teeth in annoyance. "Your clan is a chaos!" he retorted heatedly. "You should have known what happened the last time a _shaniwa_ existed. You should have known what _she _was capable of! She actually moved the earth board and raised the sea water and almost wiped some countries clean! And you still want to repeat the disaster?"

"Wait, wait! What is this about?" Zoro looked really lost in their conversation.

"It's god's will," Zeff said evenly, without being intimidated at all by the anger in Smoker's tone. "You humans just wanted to be free of all the rules bestowed by the universe. You're too cocky sometimes, crossing your own boundaries. Shaniwa merely sends the message from god."

"What—!" Smoker was enraged. "How dare you bring the name of God in your own selfish debacle…! Take that back at once!" He glared daggers at Zeff with all the fury he had.

"You guys… LISTEN WHEN PEOPLE ARE TALKING TO YOU!" Zoro shouted then, startling Smoker and Zeff, and actually cut the tension of their argument. "Jeez… I don't even understand a single thing you said! What the hell is it about disaster and god and shaniwa?" Zoro protested loudly.

"Zoro…," Smoker realized he had behaved like a brat in front of the brat and felt a little ashamed. "The shaniwa family… isn't like the other shaman family. Yes, shaman is dangerous because they hold the key to the secret of the other side to this side, but shaniwa is one hell of in different levels. Their body was born to be able to contain a lot of power from the other side, and sometimes… it's so powerful that God can even borrow their body to come to this world. It's not just the good ones. Evil can abuse the privilege as well and you know what happened if God like Ashura descends into this world, don't you?"

"God? Ashura?" Zoro looked totally perplexed, like he was about to explode from confusion.

"Right, it's too confusing. Anyway, their body is a magnet for supernatural beings. Nothing can protect the body from being possessed, except maybe the consciousness of the main resident of the body itself. But every living thing needs sleeping. At that time, there's no consciousness, so the body is easily possessed. Bottom-line, Shaniwa is too dangerous to be left alone. That's why there was a witch-hunt, to prevent them (evil beings) ending the world. And your friend, Sanji… is a shaniwa. A direct descendent of the previous shaniwa." Smoker said with a serious tone.

"So… basically… Sanji is a _threat_ to this world?" Zoro looked dumbfounded by his own conclusion. "Wait, so he can call a god?" He made a ridiculous expression. "There is a God at all?"

"Zoro!" Smoker smacked the back of his head.

"Ow! What was that for!" the green haired boy protested.

"Do you even understand how serious this situation is?" Smoker yelled at him, totally annoyed at the boy's careless response.

"Well, what do you want me to do? Kill him? We can't do that. It's against the law! Sanji isn't a criminal and he doesn't know about what his body is capable of. He's the victim here. We should help him, not shunning him!" Zoro said with a strong look. "It's not his fault that he was born that way, you know," he continued.

Smoker looked surprised at the mature response and he didn't know how to argue the logic. True, it wasn't Sanji's fault. But it didn't mean he wasn't dangerous.

"You know…," Zeff said suddenly, earning Smoker and Zoro attention. "From all the problems mentioned, there's an easy solution in this room," he continued with calculative eyes.

"What?" Smoker and Zoro asked him at unison.

"You," Zeff pointed his finger at Zoro's direction.

There was a brief silence in the room before…

"Eeeeeh?" Zoro pointed at himself with a surprised, confused look.

**End of Chapter 8**

**Tbc…

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**Note:**

_**1) Megumi**__** and Kei:**_ are written in the same Kanji. They can be read as 'Kei' or 'Megumi' depending on the femininity. 'Kei' is more likely used to call a boy, and for the girl it's 'Megumi', but it's not reserved officially.

_**2)**_ _**O-Fuda (Fuda):**_ is a kind of talisman, made from sacred paper and ink, getting prayed at and hand-made by the priest (monk) from religious temple. It protects the one holding it from evil spirit (in Japan's belief).

_**3) Jorei**__**:**_ It's the same as removal, but for possession case.

**A/N: **Uwaah, the word-count is overwhelming… it's almost 17000 words. No wonder I take too long time posting this. Re-checking is a hassle T_T. Um, sorry for the wait. So… the plot turned like this. It's not like what I expected… because it's actually isn't finished. But, since the theme already shifted, this is the end of the 'Shaman' chapters, and I will continue it next in 'Shaniwa' chapters. I have no idea how long it'll take to finish. Anyway, what do you think? Long enough right? Interesting enough? Teasing enough? XD Tell me. Feed backs are my fuel to write more, everyone! Don't hesitate to push that review button, okay? Thanks for reading. XDDD


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